Guangdong the frontline as China takes measures to prevent Ebola
Print Edition
CHINESE authorities have identified the southern province of Guangdong as a frontline in their efforts to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from entering the mainland.
Local authorities say they have expanded testing procedures at provincial entry ports and 27 hospitals have been designated to handle Ebola cases. Travelers arriving from Ebola-affected nations must leave their contact details.
“The central government has asked Guangzhou to strengthen preventative measures,” said Mao Qun’an, a spokesman for the national health and family family planning commission. “Of course in Guangzhou, there are many people from outside China’s borders.”
As many as 190 flights connect Guangdong and Africa each month, ferrying thousands of traders, many of whom come from the Ebola-hit nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. More than 60 percent of the passengers arriving on the mainland from West Africa arrive in Guangdong.
China has not reported any confirmed cases of the virus, though several suspected cases in hospital for observation.
At this week’s Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China’s biggest trade exhibition, medical workers donned protection suits and checked visitors for signs of the virus. “Of course we are worried,” said a police guard at the fair. “People are coming from all over the world.”
The authorities’ main concern revolves around the large number of African traders, many of whom come from West Africa, in Guangzhou. The city is a booming marketplace for cheap goods exported to Africa.
Officially, about 15,000 Africans live in Guangzhou, but there are many illegal immigrants and some reports put the number at 10 times that figure. Guangzhou Daily said 438,000 Africans has passed through the city since January.
Frank, 37, a trader from Nigeria who has lived in China for 10 years, said Ebola was a sensitive subject given that many Africans were in Guangdong illegally and likely to avoid hospitals. “It’s a very big problem,” Frank said. “Without a valid visa, you can do nothing in this country ... We don’t talk about it.”
Nigeria was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization last week, having contained the spread of the disease after 20 people were infected. Seven of those died.
The health commission has identified the main airports in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou as key in terms of risk, and has been focusing health and temperature checks there.
“Beijing has experience with SARS and the H7N9 (bird flu) virus. Once there is a case of Ebola, we have the ability to control its spread,” city health official Zhao Tao said.
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