Zimbabwe Intensifies Ebola Screening Ahead of COMESA Summit

Zimbabwe has stepped up efforts in the Ebola screening at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and other venues hosting delegates attending the upcoming COMESA Summit to prevent the disease from entering the country.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said the measures include screening at the airport, hotels and meeting venues to ensure that suspected cases are detected early.

Speaking after touring the airport’s Port Health screening facilities, Mombeshora said he was satisfied with the country’s preparedness to screen the expected influx of delegates.

He said new heat-sensitive cameras had been installed at the airport to detect people with elevated temperatures from a distance of four to six metres.

“The cameras can do multiple screenings at the same time so that the people who come in are not stopped one by one, but they can be screened as they are,” he said.

Mombeshora said anyone detected with a high temperature would undergo further screening, adding that isolation facilities were also in place and health workers were on alert.

However, he warned that some visitors could pass through airport screening while still in the incubation stage of the disease and develop symptoms later.

“To make sure that we do not miss any case, we have also started screening people as they go into the meetings at the different venues. We are also starting screenings at the hotels where they are staying,” he said.

Mombeshora said the measures were necessary given the seriousness of Ebola and the need to protect Zimbabwe from a possible outbreak.