Air France suspends flights to Sierra Leone over Ebola
PUBLISHED ON AUG 27, 2014 9:52 PM
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A health worker, wearing head-to-toe protective gear, offers water to a woman with Ebola, at a treatment centre for infected
persons in Kenema Government Hospital, in Kenema, Eastern Province, Sierra Leone, in this handout photo courtesy of
Unicef taken in July 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS (AFP) - French flag carrier Air France said it was suspending its flights to Sierra
Leone from Thursday, amid an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.
Wednesday's announcement followed a recommendation from French authorities to
"temporarily suspend" its services to Freetown given the way the epidemic was developing
and the state of the health systems there.
The lethal tropical virus which re-emerged in west Africa early this year has infected more
than 2,600 people. Liberia has been worst hit with 624 registered deaths. Guinea, where the
current outbreak was first detected, has reported 406 deaths, Sierra Leone 392 and Nigeria
five, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.
In Sierra Leone, it is the east of the country that is especially hard-hit but a death in Freetown
has spread fear that the capital could be in line for a wave of cases.
Before Air France suspended its Freetown flights, the airline was running the 6.5-hour flight
three times per week.
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Paris urges Air France to suspend Freetown flights over Ebola
PUBLISHED ON AUG 27, 2014 9:30 PM
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PARIS (AFP) - The French government Wednesday called on flag carrier Air France to
suspend "temporarily" its flights to Sierra Leone's capital because of an Ebola outbreak that
has killed at least 1,400 people in West Africa.
"Given the way the epidemic has evolved and the condition of the health systems... the public
authorities recommend to Air France that it temporarily suspend its services to Freetown," a
statement said after a Cabinet meeting in Paris.
The lethal tropical virus which re-emerged in west Africa early this year has since infected
more than 2,600 people.
Liberia has been worst hit with 624 registered deaths. Guinea, where the current outbreak was
first detected, has reported 406 deaths, Sierra Leone 392 and Nigeria five, the World Health
Organisation said on Friday.
In Sierra Leone, it is the east of the country that is especially hard-hit but a death in Freetown
has spread fear that the capital could be in line for a wave of cases.
According to Air France's website, it runs the 6.5-hour flight to Freetown three times per
week.
France's recommendation came a day after British Airways extended to 2015 its suspension
of flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone due to Ebola concerns.
The airline had previously suspended its flights until September.
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Ebola causing huge damage to West Africa economies - African Development Bank
PUBLISHED ON AUG 27, 2014 10:22 PM
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African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka (right) and World Health Organisation regional director for Africa
Luis G. Sambo (left) exchange documents after agreeing on a donation of US$60 million (S$75 million) to fight the Ebola
virus on August 26, 2014 in Abidjan. Ebola is causing enormous damage to West African economies, draining budgetary
resources and slashing economic growth by up to 4 per cent as foreign businessmen leave and projects are cancelled, Mr
Kaberuka said. -- PHOTO: AFP
FREETOWN (REUTERS) - Ebola is causing enormous damage to West African economies,
draining budgetary resources and slashing economic growth by up to 4 per cent as foreign
businessmen leave and projects are cancelled, the African Development Bank president said.
As transport companies suspend services, cutting off the region, governments and economists
have warned that the worst outbreak of the hemorrhagic Ebola fever on record could crush
the fragile economic gains made in Sierra Leone and Liberia following a decade of civil war
in the 1990s.
Air France, the French network of Air France-KLM said on Wednesday it has suspended its
flights to Sierra Leone following advice from the French government. France did not
recommend suspending flights to Nigeria and Guinea.
"Revenues are down, foreign exchange levels are down, markets are not functioning, airlines
are not coming in, projects are being cancelled, business people have left - that is very, very
damaging," African Development Bank (AfDB) chief Donald Kaberuka said in an interview
late on Tuesday. "The numbers I have had vary from 1 per cent to 4 per cent of GDP. That is
a lot in a country with a GDP of US$6 billion (S$7.48 billion)," Mr Kaberuka said, when
asked to quantify the impact.
Liberia has already said that it would have to lower its 2014 growth forecast, without giving a
new one.
Sierra Leone Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Abdul Ignosis Koroma also told Reuters
that the government would miss its target of exporting US$200 million in diamonds this year
because of the Ebola outbreak, versus US$186 million last year.
"There is no way the government can reach this amount since the districts where diamonds
are mined are not Ebola-free, especially the main diamondiferous region Kono," Mr Koroma
said. Miners, he added, are too afraid to go to alluvial diamonds pits in the country's Ebolastriken east.
Diamond trade had also been stopped by tough border controls to curb the spread of the virus,
he said.
The AfDB this week donated US$60 million towards essential supplies to help train medical
workers and purchase supplies to fight the outbreak, which has already killed more than
1,400 people, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The disease also has a toehold in Africa's most populous country Nigeria, where it has killed
five people, but authorities there say the outbreak has been contained. Only one out of 13
confirmed cases is still being treated in isolation in the commercial capital Lagos.
Mr Kaberuka described the health care systems of the affected countries as "overloaded". He
said he hoped the donation would stop money being diverted away from other programmes
such as the education and agriculture, thereby reducing the long-term damage from the
outbreak.
"We need to begin now to plan what could happen next when Ebola is beaten," he said.
Echoing comments from regional governments, Mr Kaberuka said that travel and trade
restrictions imposed by airlines, shipping firms and neighbouring economies was increasing
the economic hardship of the affected countries.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly said it does not recommend travel
restrictions on the affected countries due to Ebola. "I understand the countries which are
posing restrictions...but let us only do so based on medical evidence and not on political
imperatives," said Mr Kaberuka.
Democratic Republic of Congo announced on Sunday it had detected a separate outbreak of
Ebola in its remote north-western province of Equateur that had killed at least 13 people. It
was Congo's seventh outbreak since the highly contagious disease - believed to be carried by
bush animals - was first detected there in 1976.
The WHO said on Wednesday that it was awaiting test results on samples of hemorrhagic
fever from Congo sent to laboratories, but the outbreak appeared to be unrelated to the West
African outbreak. The first case appeared to be a pregnant woman in the village of
Ikanamongo who died on Aug 11 after butchering a bush animal, the WHO said.
It said it had assembled a rapid response team and was ready to assist Congo if needed.
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