Canada Bars Congo Visitors for 21 Days as Ebola Outbreak Tops 2,100 Cases
Updated
Updated · Toronto Star · Jul 19
Canada Bars Congo Visitors for 21 Days as Ebola Outbreak Tops 2,100 Cases
3 articles · Updated · Toronto Star · Jul 19
Summary
Monday at 11:59 p.m. EST, Canada will start denying entry to foreign nationals who were in the Democratic Republic of Congo within the past 21 days, and airlines must refuse them boarding.
Ottawa said the temporary restriction is a precaution against importing Ebola, even though officials still assess the risk to Canadians as low and say no travel-linked domestic cases have been reported.
Canadian citizens and permanent residents are exempt from the ban but must quarantine for 21 days after travel to Congo, Uganda or South Sudan under rules already in force until Aug. 29.
Congo’s outbreak is now the world’s third largest on record, with more than 2,100 reported cases and 864 deaths; the Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Travel volumes are limited—about 1,000 people a month move between Congo and Canada on average—and the move follows a similar U.S. policy requiring Americans to quarantine in a third country before returning.