CR WANTS RESTRICTIONS ON FLIGHTS FROM DANGER ZONES:

Councillor seeks restrictions on flights

WHEN is Australia going to place restrictions on flights to and from African countries harbouring the Ebola virus?

That’s the question being asked by Councillor Nancy Sommerfield.

She is calling for restrictions on flights from countries including Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Cr Sommerfield said restrictions could include quarantining people for extended periods.

“It can be transmitted through body secretions, which includes saliva, and could be transferred by a welcome-home kiss.

“There needs to be some kind of quarantine in place.”

She said the spread of the virus was worrying.

“I’m concerned given there has been a transference in America.

“If it could happen there it could happen here.

“There are so many ways it could be transmitted, by a hand on elevator rail or by using an ATM machine.”

Darling Downs Public Health Unit director Dr Penny Hutchinson said the risk of an Ebola outbreak in Toowoomba was extremely low.

“While Ebola is a very serious disease, it is not highly contagious.

“Ebola is not influenza and is not spread through coughing or sneezing.

“It is only transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal.”

All hospitals within the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service have been provided with guidelines from both the Commonwealth and Queensland Health Departments on managing suspected cases of Ebola.

Representatives from the Darling Downs Public Health Unit, Infection Control and the Toowoomba Hospital Emergency Department have also met to discuss specific measures to be put in place at the Toowoomba Hospital emergency department.

The Department of Health has advised authorities are on alert to watch for people who are unwell both in-flight and at airports.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has decided that preparedness measures undertaken to date were appropriate.