Juliana Francis Blog: Ebola scare on Canary Island nudist beach after migrants from Sierra Leone arrive on boat with fever and are taken away by dump truck in front of terrified tourists

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Ebola scare on Canary Island nudist beach after migrants from Sierra Leone arrive on boat with fever and are taken away by dump truck in front of terrified tourists

A group of migrants arriving on a Canary Islands nudist beach caused panic among naked holidaymakers when they reported having symptoms associated with Ebola.

To the shock of nudist holidaymakers, the 19 migrants landed on the Gran Canaria beach of Maspalomas about 8.30am and were isolated for seven hours while authorities struggled to decide what to do.

Several of the migrants said they were from Sierra Leone and Guinea - two of the most badly affected countries in the current outbreak.

A dump truck was later used to transport the migrants off the beach and to a holding centre

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The group - who arrived on the Spanish island by boat - spent seven hours in the sun before being taken away

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Red Cross workers took four of the group to hospital, while the remainder were sent to a holding camp

UN EBOLA CHIEF: MORE HELP URGENTLY NEEDED

The head of the UN mission to fight Ebola has said he does not have the resources to defeat the disease which is still accelerating in some areas of Africa.

Tony Banbury said more help is urgently needed as some villages have still received no help, despite significant contributions from the UK, China, Cuba and the US.

He said bed space was still a huge issue but claimed he was hopeful of achieving as the target of giving beds to 70 per cent of patients by December.

The confirmed death toll is now 4,818, according to the World Health Organisation.

Mr Banbury said the disease is still a 'crisis' in many areas while speaking at the UN headquarters for Ebola response in Ghana, which has not been affected by the epidemic.

He said his organisation does not yet have the capacity to defeat the disease.

Ebola spreads to last healthy district in Sierra Leone (related)

'Unfortunately, illegal immigration has become a common sight in the West.'

He added that the dump truck was used because the beach was so remote and it would require multiple trips had they used ambulances.

The beach the immigrants landed in is a popular nudist area, with access only possible on foot through a two kilometer walk across sand dunes.

Meanwhile, the Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola in Madrid hopes her infection can be of use to authorities and she has offered to give blood to treat potential sufferers.

Teresa Romero, 44, overcame the deadly virus after becoming the first known person to catch Ebola outside West Africa during the current outbreak.

Her contagion, which was passed when she cared for two priests repatriated from West Africa and who later died in Madrid, caused a backlash against the Spanish government, with health workers claiming they had received inadequate training and equipment to deal with Ebola.

'I don't know what went wrong, I don't even know if anything went wrong,' Mrs Romero told a news conference, referring to the source of the contagion, which is still being investigated.

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Police wear protective masks as a group of would-be migrants rest on Maspalomas beach

Local authorities later confirmed none of the group of would-be migrants were carrying the deadly virus

Beach goers watch on in the distance as medical teams and police officers work at Maspalomas beach

Cautious optimism in Liberia as Ebola treatment centres empty

'I only know that I am not reproachful or resentful, but if my infection can be of some use, so that the disease can be studied better or to help find a vaccine or to cure other people, here I am.'

Romero was given antibodies from a missionary nun who had caught Ebola in Liberia and who had also survived, as well as an experimental drug called favipiravir, doctors said. They added it was not clear exactly which part of the treatment had been key to her recovery.

Unfortunately, she and her husband's dog, Excalibur, was put down last month by Madrid authorities on fears it might pose an infection risk, prompting a public outcry.

FACEBOOK PHILANTHROPY

In the coming weeks, Facebook will add a button to its news feed so users can simply click to donate to nonprofit organisations currently battling Ebola.

The groups are the International Medical Corps, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Save the Children.

The social media company is also donating and deploying 100 satellite communication terminals to boost Internet and phone services to affected areas in West Africa.

The latest figures from the World Health Organisation put the Ebola crisis death toll at 4,818, with more than 13,000 confirmed cases.

While attempts to halt its spread have increased in recent weeks, fears remain the virus will continue to run rampant as the United Nations (UN) pleads for the international community to contribute more resources to combat it.

The number of Ebola cases is surging in Sierra Leone as the country suffers from a lack of treatment centres, while lack of food and basic goods is forcing some people to leave quarantine areas, the UN said.

Sierra Leone is emerging as the focal point for concern in the worst Ebola outbreak on record as the number of cases in the country continues to rise, while it stabilises in neighbouring Guinea and slows in Liberia.

The country has has 288 beds spread across four Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs) treating 196 confirmed cases of the disease

However, the European Union has now pledged to invest £218 million into Ebola research, while it is also beginning its biggest single operation of transporting supplies to West Africa.

Today a Dutch ship set sail from the Netherlands loaded with ambulances, mobile hospitals, laboratories and other equipment provided by nine European countries.

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Teresa Romero, left, was kissed by her husband Javier Limon after she was discharged from hospital

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Ebola scare on Canary Island nudist beach after migrants from Sierra Leone arrive on boat with fever and are taken away by dump truck in front of terrified tourists

FACEBOOK PHILANTHROPY

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