Korea Takes Measure to Stop Ebola Spread from African Attendees to Telecommunications Conference

Hopefully this conference is able to go smoothly in Korea without any ebola transmissions.  You would think though that the attendees from the three West African countries would voluntarily not attend conferences like this until the outbreak is under control:

Concern is mounting about a possible outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus just days before the opening of a global telecommunications conference in Busan.

The International Telecommunication Union is set to start next Monday in the southeastern port city and runs until November 7. More than 3,000 government officials and 600,000 attendees from 193 countries are expected to visit. More than 170 attendees hail from West Africa including Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the epicenters of the current outbreak.

The government has placed a request to the three hardest-hit nations not to visit and has intensified quarantine and monitoring at the Gimhae International Airport, where most visitors are expected to arrive.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare staged a response-preparation drill on Thursday for conference personnel and health staff at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center meeting venue if a visitor demonstrates Ebola-like symptoms. Five fever detectors have been deployed at the venue.

Still, the precautions haven’t quelled fears over possible transmission. Over the past few weeks, local civic groups and politicians have called on the government to establish more thorough measures to prevent an outbreak.

In a meeting with relevant ministry officials on Thursday, Rep. Cho Kyung-tae from the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy party, urged the government to block the entry of African delegates from the three nations.

“Running an international event smoothly can’t take priority over public health,” argued Rep. Cho.

Another lawmaker from the same party, Rep. Bae Jae-jung, on Wednesday cited the lack of adequate medical facilities and experts at local hospitals as a primary concern.

“We don’t have a special ward to properly isolate a patient who might contract the disease,” Rep. Bae said.  [Wall Street Journal]

You can read more at the link, but this was mentioned in the Forums that isn’t it ironic that telecommunications conference cannot have participants from these three African nations participate via telecommunications?  Discuss more over in the Forums Ebola Open Thread.