NAIROBI: Two people were killed in central Kenya on Monday during a protest against moves by the United States to set up an Ebola quarantine facility at a military base there, protest organizer Patrick Wahome and a security source told Reuters.
The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear. Kenya’s national police spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
Healthcare officials in the US, including former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, on Monday warned Congress against adopting a proposed policy to treat Americans exposed to Ebola in Kenya or countries in the European Union.
The officials, including infectious disease physician Krutika Kuppalli, emergency physicians Debra Houry and Craig Spencer, and epidemiologist Anne Schuchat, argued in an open letter the policy would be a departure from the longstanding practice of medical repatriation and raise serious clinical risks.
“This policy raises profound clinical, ethical, operational, and legal concerns,” the letter said, adding that such measures could discourage frontline responders from deploying to regions affected by outbreaks and undermine global response efforts.
“At a time when outbreak response efforts are already strained, this is a dangerous precedent. We are equally concerned about the diversion of resources toward establishing ad hoc quarantine, isolation and treatment infrastructure overseas rather than directing urgently needed resources toward controlling the outbreak at its source.”
Last week, Washington said it was setting up a facility in Kenya to quarantine US citizens who had been exposed to Ebola, and would not bring them home if they developed symptoms, but instead send them to a third country, as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to keep all cases out of US territory.
The plan to send Americans exposed to the outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to Kenya has drawn opposition from many Kenyans.
A Kenyan court has ordered the temporary suspension of a plan to set up a quarantine facility in the country after a lawsuit argued the site could endanger public health.
Kenyan president defends US Ebola quarantine center
Kenya’s president on Monday defended the establishment of an Ebola quarantine facility by the US.
President William Ruto on Monday night said the US had a long-standing partnership with Kenya on health matters and that the quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base was one of 24 facilities that had been established in the event of an Ebola outbreak in the country.
Speaking for the first time on the matter, Ruto said he agreed to the establishment of the facility based on existing bilateral relations.
“When President Trump asked the government of Kenya to support them by having a center at Laikipia Air Base, I gave the OK because it was an agreement and a partnership with friends who have worked with Kenya for 30-40 years,” he said.
Ruto said the facilities established across the country under the partnership would also benefit Kenyans in the event of an Ebola outbreak.
“We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing. People should relax. Politicians should avoid reckless, unnecessary talk that doesn’t mean anything,” he said.
