From Caribbean360

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Thursday September 25, 2014, CMC – At least two Nigerian students who arrived here this week without medical certificates to prove that they are not infected with the deadly Ebola virus, have been quarantined and will be repatriated .

“… because the students are from Nigeria, there are certain provisions that are put in place for entry, because there has not been an outright restriction,” Chief Immigration Officer Stanford Hamilton told the media earlier this week.

The Ministry of Health announced on September 1 that in order to prevent the entry of Ebola the country, persons travelling from Guinea, Sierra Leone or Liberia or those who have visited any of the aforementioned countries during a 28-day period will not be allowed entry.

Persons travelling from Nigeria or any other West African country or those who visited any of the aforementioned countries during a 28-day period must present upon entry at any port of entry a negative blood test result for Ebola – done not more than seven days prior to leaving their home country, in order to be allowed entry, the ministry said.

There are several Nigerian students enrolled at medical school here.

Hamilton said that two of the Nigerian students who arrived in the country had medical certificates but the others did not.

He said the students without the medical certificate were “quarantined in care of the school and have been visited by the Ministry of Health”.

The students were enrolled at All Saints University, “along with other universities,” he said.

The students were quarantined at an isolated apartment at the school and were visited by officials from the Ministry of Health, and will remain there until a flight is available for them to be repatriated, or until they are tested for the virus.

“Based on the decisions, there have been discussions with the Ministry of Health in terms of a monitoring system. So, that monitoring system is in place, and there is, of course, 18 to 21 days in which they will make the observation. If by that time the all-clear is given to the Ministry of Health, if no flight is given by that time, they may be granted to stay,” Hamilton said.

He said officials will be working with the airline to see how soon the students can be repatriated.

Asked if international protocols allow for the students to be “put back into the system” even as their Ebola status is unknown, Hamilton said: “We all have concerns. Once you understand how the migration process work, you can’t just pick up a person and say go back on this plane, because there are some procedures that you have to go through.”

He said he was aware that a captain of an aircraft can deny boarding to such students.

“I am aware of that and that is why all of the institutions that are part of looking into this issue are doing what we can do to ensure that the persons are isolated sufficiently and they are being examined,” he said.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there have been eight Ebola deaths in Nigeria since the latest outbreak began six months ago.

Ebola only spreads when people are sick.

A patient must have symptoms to spread the disease to others. After 21 days, if an exposed person does not develop symptoms, they will not become sick with Ebola.

IMAGE: Danger Ebola biohazard Nigeria map sign on blue illustration

For more on this story go to:: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/nigerian-students-quarantined-in-st-vincent-for-failing-to-prove-ebola-status#ixzz3EMCYfKqe