Combating the Spread of Ebola through Compulsory Reporting

Combating the Spread of Ebola through Compulsory Reporting

#ReportEbola, #CompulsoryReporting

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At the height of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2003, in Asia, my dear wife and I had booked to go on a holiday to Singapore.  We were split between going or cancelling for safety reasons.  At the end we decided that we had planned this for a while and must therefore make good the plan and so we went.

On arrival at Singapore airport, we were given information leaflets about SARS and what the government of Singapore were doing about it.  And immediately on arrival at our hotel, our body temperatures were taken and recorded in a hotel diary.  Daily, for the duration of our stay, we were tested for any sign in the change of our temperatures.  Every hotel and  bed and breakfast across Singapore was required to take the temperature of all their guests daily.

We were informed that health inspectors paid unannounced visits to hotels to ensure compliance.  Such on the spot visits were met with on-the-spot fines and closure for any hotel found not keeping a proper record of their guests’ temperature readings.

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The Port Harcourt Incident

Now after the allegedly reported incident in Port Harcourt that resulted in the death of a doctor, the government must now as a matter of urgency require every hotel and guest house up and down the country to take and keep a temperature reading of EVERY guest irrespective of their status.

The life and welfare of the overall population is more important than the ego of selfishness of any single individual, no matter who they are.

What happened in Port Harcourt must never be allowed to happen again.  The government must now continue with the good work and measures that it has already began, by finding and quarantining every primary, secondary and tertiary contacts related to this case.  The scene of this crime must also now be shut down for the next one month to ensure that the virus is contained and destroyed.

Furthermore, anyone found complicit in harbouring this diplomat must be brought to book and made to face the full wrath of the law.

So far Nigeria - both the government and we citizens have done everything we needed to do to contain the virulent effect of this virus.  The government stand commended by all at home and abroad.  That reputation must be maintained and not allow anybody or group no matter their position to sabotage its efforts in containing and finally defeating the spread of this virus.

A word is enough for the wise.  Corruption kills as this virus has demonstrated already.  Compulsory reporting of all incidents must now be quickly instituted in law and any offenders dealt with pronto.

#ReportEbola, #CompulsoryReporting

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