Health officials have promised to monitor the health of the crew members arriving into Falmouth onboard two ships from Ebola hit Sierra Leone next month – including potentially taking their temperatures before they disembark.
Paul Cosford, director for health protection and medical director, at Public Health England, wrote to MP Andrew George after the West Cornwall member raised the issue at the Select Committee Ebola Inquiry.
Mr George, a member of the Health Select Committee, wanted reassurances when sharing the concerns of local people over the scheduled arrival of the ships, scheduled for the middle of November.
He questioned Mr Cosford, alongside chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies and Professor Chris Whitty, chief scientific advisor at the Department For International Development.
Mr George said he has received a response from Mr Cosford, who wanted to give assurance that his local Public Health England colleagues were aware of the concern and would be “engaging proactively with the ships' captains and crew.”
Specifically, they would: n reiterate to the ships’ owners their responsibility and potential liability for ensuring their captains provide complete and transparent declarations in the maritime declaration of health forms; n email/fax a copy of the UK port screening questionnaire to the captains to complete for each person on board, preferably after departure, and send it back to us ahead of time. This questionnaire would be adapted as appropriate from that used in airports; n maintain daily radio contact in the last four to five days prior to the vessels’ arrival, while the receiving port/Maritime and Coastguard Agency would have daily crew health updates by radio with the captains; n consider temperature screening of all people on board before allowing unrestricted access to the population.
Mr George said: “Precautions need to be effective and proportionate. We will keep this under review and I report back to the Health Select Committee.”
Last week the Packet printed a letter from concerned Falmouth residents Elaine Clay, Wendy Barnwell and Julia Braddon, calling upon Prime Minister David Cameron and A&P Falmouth managing director Peter Child to delay the refit of the Gypsum Centennial (one of the two ships in question) at Falmouth Docks.
Their comments provoked a mixed reaction at thepacket.co.uk, with philiplong54 saying: “These ladies and others showing concern over these two ships are correct in their fears. We could find ourselves in a situation where we have a ship whose crew are suffering from Ebola upon arrival at Falmouth.
“What happens then where are they taken to Treliske or Derriford I don’t know, our hospitals struggle to contain Norovirus.”
Northcliffs agreed: “The ship should not be allowed here, disappointed that the government is allowing this to happen. They won't let planes come, why boats I ask?”
However, gwen4me was among a number of readers less concerned, writing: “There’s always a minority that will panic needlessly. Ebola is only one of many communicable disease that could come in by ship, that’s why we have Port Health facilities.”
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