US to screen arrivals for Ebola
October 8, 2014
On Wednesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest announced that five major US airports would begin screening passengers on arrivals from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries hit hardest by the current Ebola outbreak.
John F. Kennedy International in New York, Washington Dulles International, Chicago O'Hare International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey were to start checking temperatures of people arriving from the West African countries.
"These five airports are the destination of 94 percent of individuals who travel to the United States from the three countries that are currently affected by Ebola," Earnest said in a news briefing.
"This is an additional layer of screening that can be targeted to that small population in a way that will enhance security but also minimize disruption to the broader traveling public," he added.
Death of Thomas Duncan
The announcement came just after the death of Thomas Duncan.
"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 a.m.," Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas spokesman Wendell Watson said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
Duncan was the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola outside of West Africa since the outbreak of the current epidemic in March.
He flew to the US from Liberia on September 20, at first showing no symptoms, and was kept in an isolation unit in a hospital in Dallas after September 28. Dozens of people with whom he may have had contact are being monitored.
The hospital reported that Duncan's condition had started to deteroriate over the weekend.
'Step up now'
Shortly after Duncan's death was announced, US Secretary of State John Kerry called upon the international community to do more to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.
"We need people to step up now," he said at a press conference Wednesday. "Now is the time for action, not words. And, frankly, there is not a moment to waste in this effort."
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak, the worst on record, had killed 3,879 people out of 8,033 cases as of October 5.
sb/mkg (AFP, dpa, Reuters, AP)