People in Kenya are protesting the United States’ plan to create a quarantine facility in the country for Americans who may be infected with the Ebola virus. Kenya’s high court effectively delayed the Trump administration’s plan to send American citizens exposed to the Ebola virus to a quarantine unit at Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya.
A judge at the court, the Honorable Lady Justice Patricia Nyaundi, said in a ruling that the next proceedings in the case would not take place until June 23rd, at which point a date for a full hearing would be set, according to a report by The New York Times.
This will effectively delay any action on the matter until then. The court suspended the plan for the facility last week, after the Katiba Institute, a Kenyan civil society group, filed a petition challenging its constitutionality.
As part of its response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the Trump administration announced last week that it would prevent any American citizens exposed to the virus from returning to the United States for observation and treatment. That decision, a departure from U.S. policy during previous Ebola outbreaks, has shocked many health experts. –The New York Times
Uganda Closes Borders To DRC As Suspected Ebola Cases Are Now Over 1000
“I gave the OK because it was an agreement and a partnership with friends who have walked with Kenya for 30 or 40 years,” Kenyan president William Ruto told journalists in the northern town of Wajir on Monday. “The American government has supported us,” he added. “They have deployed huge resources in Kenya to work with us on H.I.V., AIDS, to work with us on other diseases.”
The Ebola Outbreak is More Concerning Than The Hantavirus
This particular strain of Ebola, known as Bundibugyo, is spreading rapidly through DR Congo. So far, Kenya has not reported a case of the disease. Ruto is confident that because of previous US assistance in healthcare matters, even if the country receives a positive Ebola test, it will be able to fight back.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday confirmed 330 cases and 49 deaths from the outbreak, and many more cases are suspected. Almost all of the cases and deaths are in DR Congo, with a few in Uganda.