Don’t panic.
That was the clear caution from president of the Travel Agents Association of Barbados Indar Weir to Barbadians following the outbreak of Ebola in some parts of Western Africa and the death of the first Ebola patient in the United States.
Weir noted that even though thousands of people had already lost their lives to the deadly illness, “we have not reached the point of panic in Barbados regarding its spread”.
He pointed out that local travel agents were working closely with officials at the Ministry of Health before any messages or alerts were disseminated to the travelling public.
“We have to be careful not to allow ourselves to panic based on what we see on the news and what is reported on Ebola,” he said.
Weir said there were not many Barbadians who leave the island bound for Africa, nor were there many who leave those parts and head to that side of the world.
“We are pretty safe and we can feel safe. Up to this point there is no need to panic nor be overly concerned. It comes down to the Ministry of Health to do the monitoring,” he added, noting that Barbados was not highly exposed.
Weir said travel agents also carried out their own research as well as their own monitoring of the situation, though that it would be unwise to throw caution to the wind.
So far, Ebola has killed more than 3 800 people, according to the World Health Organisation.
The numbers, it noted, reflected the confirmed Ebola cases in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the United States.
