(May 27): Thailand has imposed a mandatory 21-day quarantine on people travelling from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, as the Southeast Asian travel hotspot becomes the first country in the world to implement such strict measures.
Passengers arriving from those two African nations will be screened at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute on the outskirts of Bangkok, Department of Disease Control officials said Wednesday. Anyone without symptoms will stay at the facility for three weeks, while people with Ebola symptoms will be isolated for treatment, they said.
It’s unclear what measures will apply to transit passengers. The quarantine rules start from 6pm local time Wednesday. Thailand has detected zero Ebola infections.
While many countries have implemented screening for people travelling from Ebola-affected areas, Thailand’s stance is particularly strict.
As one of Asia’s busiest tourism hubs, and an important gateway between the region and Africa, Thailand has long maintained aggressive disease surveillance measures. The country was the first outside China to detect a Covid-19 case linked to Wuhan in January 2020, weeks before the virus was declared a global pandemic.
Canada is also set to impose a quarantine. From May 30, anyone who has been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan within the previous 21 days and who doesn’t have symptoms will need to quarantine for three weeks. Travellers who have symptoms will be isolated at a hospital for further assessment. The measures are in place until Aug 29.
Congo is at the epicentre of a deadly Ebola outbreak that’s strained public health systems and is spreading faster than the response to contain it.
The country had reported 101 confirmed infections, 930 suspected cases and 221 suspected deaths as of May 25. The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no approved treatments or vaccine.
Thai authorities said that violations of quarantine orders could result in fines of up to 100,000 baht (US$3,000 or RM11,894), imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja