Panama bars travelers from three Ebola-hit African countries

[Doug Johnson]

(Reuters) - Panama has banned entry of travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three West African nations worst hit by the Ebola virus, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The ban applies to anyone traveling from the three countries or people entering Panama who had been there during the last 21 days, the ministry said in a statement.

Panama is a major hub for travel and commerce in Latin America and has so far not registered any cases of Ebola. The travel ban would be maintained until the three countries were declared free of the virus, the government said.

Panama bars travelers from three Ebola-hit African countries

Good.

[Keith Woolford]

Let's put the shoe on the other foot for a minute. Where do you stop with travel bans? In the Western Hemisphere the only confirmed cases of ebola, and the health care workers who treated them, are all in the United States. How about banning outbound travel from the U.S. and locking the country down so the virus doesn't spread to the rest of the Americas? Hmm.

[Keith Woolford]

Preposterous? Of course, but so are some of the restrictions that have been proposed.

[Doug Johnson]

If the USA had adopted this policy, or at the very minimum imposed a 21-day quarantine on healthcare workers who had been treating ebola patients in these countries, then New York City would not have had someone riding three different subways this Wednesday night before being admitted to hospital with a confirmed case of ebola on Thursday.

Even if nobody else contracts ebola from this incident in NYC, the expenses and panic already incurred are huge.  Panama has common sense in this matter which is sorely lacking up north.

[Mateo]

It's hard to fine-tune these things. We want them to do SOMETHING.

Which makes this septuagenarian flash back to Fearless Fosdick and "The Poisoned Bean Case".

[Keith Woolford]

The ATP Canal administration has had these measures in place for quite a while now.

[Mateo]

The Canal administration's task does seem tougher. 

http://laestrella.com.pa/panama/nacional/canal-panama-esta-preparad...
La Estrella	Google Translate
El Canal de Panamá activó desde hace dos meses los protocolos para enfrentar el ébola, que incluyen poner en cuarentena al posible buque involucrado, informó hoy el administrador de la vía interoceánica, Jorge Quijano.  "Si se diese un caso (de ébola) el buque queda en cuarentena, nadie se baja, y el único que puede subir es el oficial debidamente capacitado y debidamente protegido, el oficial del Ministerio de Salud, de Sanidad Marítima en particular, que atendería" la situación, dijo Quijano en un encuentro con periodistas.	The Panama Canal for two months triggered protocols to deal with Ebola, including quarantining possible ship involved , said the manager of the waterway , Jorge Quijano. " If a case ( Ebola ) is give the ship is quarantined , no one gets off , and the only one who can upload is properly trained and properly protected official , the official of the Ministry of Health, Maritime Health in particular that would address the situation, " Quijano said in a meeting with reporters .

The protocol puts one in mind of  the "coffin ships".

[Mateo]

http://www.prensa.com/impreso/panorama/prohiben-entrada-viajeros-af... clarifies:

La Prensa	Google Translate - Deletions and insertions are mine.
Como parte del proceso para negar el ingreso de estos viajeros, las líneas aéreas deben verificar si alguno de sus pasajeros visitó países afectados con el virus en los últimos 21 días, informó Rafael Pérez, coordinador del grupo interagencial de alto nivel, responsable de la aplicación de protocolos ante la situación internacional del ébola.	As part of the process to deny entry of these travelers, airlines must check if any of your their passengers visited countries affected with the virus in the last 21 days,  reported Rafael Pérez, coordinator of the high-level interagency group responsible for the implementation of the international Ebola situation  protocols.
http://www.prensa.com/uhora/locales/dedidas-ebola/412326 reports 2012 stats:
La Prensa	Google Translate - Deletions and insertions are mine.
Cifras de la Contraloría General de la República indican que ese año pasaron por el aeropuerto internacional de Tocumen 47 pasajeros de estos tres países, 11 de ellos de Guinea, 17 de Sierra Leona y 19 de Liberia.	Figures from the General Accounting Office Contraloría General de la República indicate that year went through Tocumen International Airport 47 passengers of these three countries, 11 of them from Guinea, Sierra Leone 17 and 19 of Liberia.

[Linda Jensen]

Very good news that this tiny nation is proactive in this crisis.

[Gene R]

The U.S. should follow Panamas' lead....................