USA Tightens Entry Restrictions Following Ebola Outbreak in Africa
Passengers who were in Congo in the 21 days prior to their flight to the USA will not be allowed to board commercial flights to the country. Passengers arriving from Uganda and South Sudan will be required to enter through designated airports and undergo enhanced health screenings.
The USA is tightening travel and entry restrictions to its territory following an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Africa. Under the new guidelines, passengers who were in Congo during the 21 days prior to their travel to the USA will not be allowed to board commercial flights to the country.
The restriction also applies to US citizens. Anyone currently in Congo will be required to wait 21 days outside the country before they can return to the USA on a commercial flight.
The guidelines also include restrictions on passengers who were in Uganda or South Sudan. US citizens and individuals with US national status who were in one of these countries during the 21 days prior to their arrival in the USA, and were not in Congo, will be able to enter the country only through pre-designated airports. There, they will undergo screening procedures and enhanced health checks.
The restrictions are intended to reduce the risk of people who have been exposed to the Ebola virus arriving in the USA. The 21-day period set in the guidelines is based on the accepted maximum incubation period of the virus, during which signs of the disease may appear in an infected person.
The new measures join restrictions that the US administration has already implemented recently. In July, it was decided to prevent US citizens who were in Congo from returning to the country on a direct flight, and to require them to wait 21 days in another country before flying to the USA.
Subsequently, the restrictions were expanded to include green card holders who were in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan during the 21 days prior to their entry into the USA.
The US administration emphasizes that these are preventive measures intended to reduce the risk of importing the virus into the country, and not a sweeping entry ban on those arriving from countries where Ebola cases have been identified.
