Ebola airport screening to start today
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Passengers travelling from West Africa will face screenings for Ebola at Heathrow Terminal 1 today (14 October) before rolling out to other terminals.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the measures will be in place at the terminal today, before moving onto Heathrow’s other terminals, Gatwick Airport and Eurostar’s entry points by the end of next week.
Those arriving in the UK who started their journey in Sierra Leone, Liberia or Guinea will be screened, with the initiative expected to reach 89% of travellers.
There are currently no direct flights from the UK to the three affected countries, but some are available into Paris, hence the screenings at Eurostar terminals.
If the situation were to get worse Hunt said screenings would also be put in place at Manchester and Birmingham.
Hunt said the measures were ‘proportionate to risk’ as the chief medical officer said there is expected to be ‘likely’ cases of Ebola in the UK during the next three months, but the risk is low.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “The welfare of our passengers and colleagues is always our main priority and we are working with Government to support the implementation of the screening measures as announced by the Health Secretary today. We would like to reassure passengers that the Government assesses the risk of a traveller contracting Ebola to be low. We would encourage anybody with individual questions or concerns to refer to guidance from Public Health England and the Foreign Office.”
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