The Ministry of Public Health has prepared an isolation ward at the Ramon de Lara Military Hospital, announced National Ebola Commission coordinator Jorge Marte Baez yesterday, Thursday 4 December 2014. The facility has been set aside exclusively for treating Ebola cases. The hospital is located in the San Isidro Air Base east of Santo Domingo.
Marte said a second unit could be installed at the Ney Arias Lora Public Hospital in Santo Domingo East.
Interviewed on the Channel 37 TV program, Enfoque Matinal, he pointed out that the probability of the disease reaching the country was very low.
Marte informed that the Ministry of Public Health had issued an order banning airlines and tour operators from selling tickets to passengers from the five West African countries affected by Ebola, and that immigration officials have also been trained to detect any potential cases. He said the early symptoms of Ebola are similar to those of a bad cold and that they were working to educate medical and paramedical staff, including nurses, lab technicians, cleaning staff and technical support staff on the disease.
Marte said that six Ebola prevention units have been installed at the border with Haiti and in Azua. “We have done this because we know that the border with Haiti is more virtual than real,” he said.