The Ebola crisis will “get worse before it gets better”, says the health secretary, warning of a handful of UK cases in the coming months as he introduces screening at airports and Eurostar.
From tomorrow, passengers arriving at Heathrow terminal 1 from Ebola-affected countries in west Africa will have their temperatures monitored and will have to fill out a questionnaire. Their contact details will also be filed.
Posters alerting people to the dangers and detailing some of the warning signs will also be displayed, said Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Anyone suspected of having Ebola will be transferred to hospital.
Operators answering calls to the NHS 111 phone line are also going to start asking callers if they have been to west Africa and paramedics will be sent out with special protective equipment if Ebola is suspected.
Want more info? Read Jeremy Hunt's statement in full
A “handful” of Ebola cases are expected in the UK over the next few months, said Mr Hunt: when asked to clarify, he said this means fewer than 10 cases in three months, and is based on advice from Public Health England.
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The measures in place at Heathrow terminal 1 will be rolled out to Gatwick airport and Eurostar rail terminals by the end of the week – part of the “vigorous steps” that David Cameron insisted were being taken.
Public Health England is carrying out the screening and anyone who tests positive for Ebola will be transferred to the Royal Free Hospital in north London, the UK’s specialist centre for treating the most dangerous infectious diseases.
There are also plans to increase bed capacity for Ebola patients in Newcastle, Liverpool and Sheffield, to make a total of 26 beds available.
It is a good question. After all, the government said last week that it would not start screening for Ebola. When asked about the sudden change in policy, Mr Hunt told the House of Commons that the advice had changed, mainly because the situation in west Africa had become significantly more serious: he said the number of Ebola cases in West Africa is doubling every three to four weeks.
“The situation will get worse before it gets better,” said Mr Hunt. “But we shouldn’t flinch in our resolve to defeat Ebola, both the safety of the British population and as part of our responsibility to some of the poorest countries on the planet.”
The new measures were announced as Spain’s foreign minister was forced to defend the government’s handling of Ebola, after a Spanish nurse became the first person to contract the virus outside west Africa. She had treated two missionaries who were evacuated to Madrid and later died.
At least 4,000 people are now known to have died from Ebola, though experts estimate the actual number is higher.
The new measures come seven months since this year’s Ebola outbreak started and spread from Guinea to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. It had already killed over 1,000 people by August when the first known Brit to contract the virus – the nurse William Pooley – was airlifted back to the UK from Sierra Leone for treatment.