Prevention and prudence

No less than President Aquino has asked for understanding from the Filipino UN Peacekeepers arriving on Nov. 12 from Ebola-stricken Liberia. The plan is to quarantine the one hundred forty-two soldiers on Caballo Island, a military reserve controlled by the Philippine Navy. The quarantine period will last for twenty-one days. The soldiers will not be allowed to see their families nor leave the island during this time. This is to make sure that no one is infected, and that they do not carry the deadly Ebola virus themselves. Three weeks is the usual incubation period of Ebola. Although none of the soldiers currently show any signs nor symptoms of the disease, it is still better to be safe than sorry.

It would be nothing short of a nightmare should the Ebola virus make its way into the country. A large population of the Philippines live in poverty, with families living in squalid, cramped conditions. It would take just one infected person for the virus to spread like wildfire. More than forty public and private hospitals have been trained to treat Ebola patients. As to whether they can handle such a situation remains to be seen. Let's keep it that way.

According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Nov. 4, 2014, there are thirteen thousand two hundred sixty-eight cases of Ebola, eight thousand one hundred of those are laboratory confirmed, with four thousand nine hundred sixty deaths. The data was compiled in conjunction with the World Health Organization and based on information from the various Ministries of Health. The Department of Health has assured the public that the country remains Ebola-free. OFWs that have returned from Ebola positive countries have been declared free of the virus. We have been so lucky so far. In the US, there are two confirmed cases of Ebola.

The government is simply being careful in placing the returning UN Peacekeepers in quarantine. The same will be done to future OFWs returning from countries known to already have Ebola. Discrimination and prejudice are not the issue here, but prevention and prudence. With a cure for Ebola still unavailable, the best way to fight it is to prevent its spread. Surely there is nothing wrong in that.

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