According to the Fresno Bee: “Some would like to see the US restrict travel from (West Africa) altogether, just to be safe. We think that kind of isolationism is not only a bad idea, it could damage efforts to slow Ebola’s spread. Demonising an entire region would only help drive victims further into the shadows.”
Says the Hindu of India: “The Obama administration has refused to entertain ideas of blocking the entry of those coming from the affected countries. If the US were to adopt such a seemingly extreme step, other nations would doubtless follow suit. Isolating those countries for any extended period will only add to their hardship. India and other countries untouched by Ebola must, however, be ready with response plans should an infected person turn up on their shores.”
On the contagious ability of Ebola, the Washington Times would like the Obama administration to be more clear. “The administration repeats the reassurance that Ebola can be contracted only through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person with symptoms.
“Going airborne would be dangerous, but government spokesmen say that isn’t likely. Dr. C.J. Peters was director of a federal research centre in Reston, Virginia, when an outbreak of Ebola killed research monkeys there several years ago. Last week, he told the Los Angeles Times that he ‘wouldn’t rule out’ the possibility of airborne transmission in ‘tight quarters’. ‘Tight quarters’ could be the interior of an airliner,” says the Times.
Says Kenya’s Daily Nation in its editorial, “What lessons can Kenya learn from two cases (of Ebola)? That thorough screening and unfailing follow-up of people arriving from places already hit by Ebola is the surest way to keep this disease at bay.”
According to a World Bank report on the disease, the editorial says, Kenya is one of 19 countries that could report an Ebola case in the next 30 days, even if the outbreak in West Africa is contained.
“This is a wake-up call that should worry all sectors of the economy. Indeed America and European countries such as Spain, which have recorded Ebola cases, are much more advanced in disease prevention and treatment, yet they have been shell shocked by the reality of having to deal with cases of infected people in their midst.”
On a different note, Spanish media gets a drubbing by one of its own for its mishandling of the case of Ebola in Spain. The Spain Report writes: “It has been a terrible week for government communications in Spain and many Spanish media outlets have contributed to the confusion and chaos.
“La Informacion and El Periodico published CCTV screen grabs of Mrs. Romero (the Ebola patient) agonising in her hospital bed, taken from the video camera recording her suffering. It is not clear how they obtained the CCTV footage.”
The worst offender though, the editorial says, was the radio station Cadena COPE, which rushed to publish the news of Romero’s death last Thursday evening.