Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Joss Reimer says travellers arriving in Canada are being asked about whether they've been to the regions affected by the Ebola outbreak.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Canada has bolstered health screening at its borders because of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, says the country’s chief public health officer.
At a virtual press conference on Friday, Joss Reimer said travellers now face additional questions when arriving to Canada, including whether they have travelled to the regions affected by the outbreak.
On Friday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, raised the risk level at the national level to “very high,” saying the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading rapidly.
He also said that previously, the WHO assessed the risk level to be high at national and regional levels and low at a global level.
“We are now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level,” he said in Geneva.
“So far, 82 cases have been confirmed in DRC, with seven confirmed deaths.”
Andrew Lawrence, a director-general for the Canadian Border Services Agency, said the enhanced screening protocols at ports of entry kicked in on Wednesday.
Dr. Reimer said she has herself encountered the enhanced screening protocols because she recently returned to Canada from Switzerland.
She said she was asked additional screening questions, including if she had travelled to the region of the Ebola outbreak and whether she had any symptoms of the disease.
Dr. Reimer said that Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the body fluids of an infected individual who is showing symptoms or through contact with infected animals or contaminated materials.
She added that additional CBSA staff have also been brought into most common ports of entry so quarantine officers and other staff are available should anyone arrive to Canada and demonstrate risk factors that require further assessment.
Mr. Lawrence said the CBSA has designated screening officers who are trained to follow the federal Quarantine Act and can respond in the event that travellers display any symptoms of illness.
Dr. Reimer also said an individual from Ontario tested negative for the virus when they were assessed at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
She said the testing underscores how public-health steps were followed even when the likelihood of Ebola in Canada is low.