Australia resists international pressure to impose travel restrictions on affected African regions despite US and Canadian border measures.
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Australia will continue to enforce the same border management policy and to reject any international pressure concerning travel restrictions due to the Ebola outbreak occurring in Africa; in particular, the countries of ambiguity with Canada and the United States are implementing tighter entry requirements for people traveling to those countries due to the Ebola outbreak. The Australian Department of Health has advised SBS News that Australia bases its border control measures on conditions specific to Australia as oppose to taking directives from other countries. Although Australia will continue to monitor the spread of Ebola virus outbreak from countries, in this case, DRC and Uganda, the representative of the department specifically stated that the actions taken by other countries do not necessarily mean they were correct for Australia.
In addition, Australia's stance regarding Ebola virus outbreak is contrary to that of Western nations as evidenced by actions of United States provided by Secretary of State Rubio who stated, "We will not let one case of Ebola into the U.S." After the U.S. established a travel ban from non-U.S. citizens from countries affected with Ebola on November 7 and renewed the travel ban today to non-citizens with green cards from affected areas. Canada placed a 90-day travel ban on all residents and 21-day quarantine on Canadian citizens and lawful permanent residents returning from DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan.
Responses among the other global countries were similar; countries such as Bahamas, Jordan and Bahrain have enacted travel restrictions in response; while Thailand, Kenya, Cayman Islands and India have implemented travel screening and monitoring processes. However, the European Union’s Health Secretaries Committee met last week and determined that travel screening is unnecessary for passengers arriving into Europe from either DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) or Uganda because the risk to the European public was low.
The World Health Organisation has declared the current outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strains of Ebola to be the third largest outbreak of its kind in recorded history, a public health emergency of international concern. Current statistics provided by the Health Ministry of the DRC indicate that there are 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola with 121 confirmed cases; there have been 246 suspected deaths and 17 confirmed deaths. There have been seven confirmed cases and one death in Uganda, which has led the government of Uganda to German order a temporary closure of its border with the DRC.
The Australian Government's Department of Health has assessed the risk of Ebola (Ebola) to the health of Australians as low, given all of the above are covered by Australia's Comprehensive Border Health Measures to prevent travellers from developing any significant signs of a communicable disease. If a person arrives in Australia and shows any signs or symptoms of Ebola, they will be assessed for appropriate treatment if indicated. To date, there have been no reported cases of Ebola in Australia. In addition, the Australian Government is providing public health information/education signage at all airports to aid in Australia's prevention efforts and is working with Australian humanitarian organizations for deployment to areas affected by Ebola.
Ebola is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids of someone who is symptomatic and is not spread through airborne transmission. However, the virus has a very high mortality rate. Of the 4 subtypes of Ebola virus, the Bundibugyo Virus does not have any approved specific treatment or vaccine and is the least lethal of the 4 viruses. The Department of Health and the Australian Centre for Disease Control (AC/DC) will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and will continue to be available for consultation with all border health agencies to determine whether further measures are warranted.
Business Honor is of the view that Australia's steadfast rejection of travel restrictions demonstrates commitment to evidence-based policy over international conformity.
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