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The federal government on Sunday said it would deny entry to foreign nationals who had been to the Democratic Republic of the Congo within the past 21 days as part of new, temporary border measures to combat the spread of Ebola.
The measures take effect on Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET and will last until Aug. 29, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said in a statement.
“Limiting entry of foreign nationals who have been in the the DRC in the previous 21 days may reduce public health risks for Canadians, and is intended to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of border measures that can safely process travelers arriving in Canada, including our returning humanitarian workers,” the statement says.
The government’s travel health notice risk level for Congo is currently orange (or Level 3 out of 4), which means to avoid non-essential travel. PHAC says the risk from Ebola for Canadians remains low and no travel-related cases in Canada have been reported.
The measures enacted so far “are out of an abundance of caution,” the statement reads.
Health workers interact July 3 at the Evangelical Medical Center, in Bunia, eastern Congo, where Ebola clinical trials were scheduled to take place. (Dirole Lotsima Dieudonn/The Associated Press)
The federal government clamped down on travel and immigration from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan in late May, suspending immigration documents from citizens of those countries.
Canadian citizens, permanent residents and those registered under the Indian Act who have been in those countries within the last 21 days can still travel to Canada, but will receive a health assessment on arrival and must quarantine for 21 days.
The number of confirmed cases of Ebola in Congo has reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, according to government data released earlier this month. The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 100 health-care workers have been infected since the beginning of the outbreak.
