The Government has set up an Ebola Screening centre at the Hajj Village in Accra to screen pilgrims before they embark on the holy pilgrimage to Mecca.
The move is to ensure that the pilgrims are adequately protected before embarking on the journey to Saudi Arabia.
About 5,000 Ghanaian Muslims are expected to make the pilgrimage this year.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pbfA7iEtPfGriu4LigQMqAhMm5UVhYUZ”]Ghana has so far, investigated 38 suspected Ebola cases which all came out negative but the Oxford University in United Kingdom has predicted that Ghana and 14 other countries in Africa are at risk of recording Ebola due to their geographic location.
The Government of Ghana released GHC100, 000 each to all the ten regional hospitals for the refurbishment of Ebola isolated centres to take care of any possible outbreak.
Meanwhile, medical officers are on a 24-hour surveillance at the Hajj village.
In an interview with Citi News, the PRO of the Hajj committee, Alhassan Suhuyini noted that, this measure is aimed at ensuring that only pilgrims in good health are allowed to embark on the pilgrimage.
He explained that “the Suadi Arabia authorities are also concerned about the outbreak of the Ebola disease and they have already suspended pilgrims from some other countries and so we don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
Both first and second batch of the pilgrimages have already left Accra to Saudi Arabia. The third batch will leave Accra today.
Some 2,300 people have so far died from Ebola in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana