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HEA

Geneva doctors dress for battle with Ebola virus

Sweating behind fogged-up goggles, Thanh Dang meticulously follows each instruction as she peals away layers of protective clothing, stopping repeatedly to wash her double-gloved hands in chlorine disinfectant.

Geneva doctors dress for battle with Ebola virus
Health workers take part in pre-deployment training. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

The routine may seem excessive in this pristine, upscale Geneva neighbourhood with the late autumn sun reflecting off snow-covered Alps in the distance.
   
But the young doctor knows this is a matter of life and death — any missteps could prove fatal when she arrives in Ebola-ravaged Liberia in a few days.
   
"The undressing is really stressful, because you're really hot and you can't see anything," she told AFP after guardedly stripping off her final bit of protective gear and washing her hands for the last time.
   
Standing inside a white tent pitched behind the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC), Dang is one of around 30 doctors, nurses, lab technicians and water and sanitation workers gathered for a crash-course in how to deal with one of the deadliest viruses known to man.
   
They come from around the world and most of them work for the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Like Dang, many are about to head into the West African epicentre of the epidemic that has killed nearly 5,000 people.
   
"Everything in the high-risk area with confirmed cases is a risky activity and in the training we stress very much that you have to plan every step you take," explained course leader and ICRC's head of emergency health Panu Saaristo.
   
Ebola is spread only through close contact with the sweat, vomit, blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person who has begun showing symptoms.
   
This puts health workers caring for the sick especially at risk of contracting the virus, which kills around 70 percent of its victims, often shutting down their organs and causing unstoppable bleeding.

Prepared for anything

Saaristo, who himself has spent weeks in Guinea where the outbreak began late last year, pointed out that one of the most dangerous things for health workers in the field is to simply open the ambulance doors.
   
"You can never be really sure of what is behind the doors," he said, pointing out that you could find highly contagious corpses or "a dozen people presenting horrible Ebola symptoms. That is something you have to be prepared for."
   
The Finn stressed though that if the protective gear is used correctly and all the routines are followed to the letter, Ebola treatment centres are likely the safest places to be in areas coping with the epidemic.
   
"When you follow the infection prevention and control protocols meticulously, the level of awareness is different than what it likely is among the general population," he said.
   
But there are numerous steps to memorise, and the volunteers easily spend 20 minutes getting on their gear and even longer removing it, despite help from a dedicated dresser/undresser.
   
"If ever one of these steps went wrong…," said Erica Burton of MSF, as she looks into a mirror to check that her mask and helmet are properly attached to her plastic yellow jumpsuit.
   
"Right now I can almost just breathe. I'm very hot," she said, worrying that all the equipment, in a far hotter Africa, would make communicating with and caring for patients "quite the challenge".
   
After the two-day course in Geneva, Saaristo said the aid workers would undergo further training when they reach their postings in the field to ensure they had the safety routines down.
   
ICRC and MSF aim to host such training sessions each week in Geneva, and are also conducting sessions in Madrid.
   
Cristina Estrada, ICRC's head of operations quality assurance, lamented, however, that that growing panic and stigma attached to Ebola were making it more difficult to convince aid workers to go to the region.
   
Instead of being hailed for doing a desperately needed job, returning heath workers were being treated like criminals, she said.
   
"What we are facing back home is not nice."
   
 Dang said she had put her fears of stigmatisation aside for now.
   
"Right now I just want to think about where I am going and how I can best do my job," she said.

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QUARANTINE

Switzerland to cut quarantine period for vaccinated and extend current measures

Switzerland will shorten the obligatory quarantine for anyone testing positive for Covid to five days, while extending the current measures until at least March. The duration of immunity for the Covid certificate will also be shortened.

Swiss Interior and Health Minister Alain Berset gestures during a press conference.. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Swiss Interior and Health Minister Alain Berset gestures during a press conference.. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Switzerland on Wednesday announced a range of changes to the existing Covid measures. 

As had been widely reported ahead of the announcement, the Covid quarantine period for positive cases was shortened from the current ten days to five for vaccinated and recovered people. 

People can leave quarantine after five days, provided they are symptom free for 48 hours. Based on the new advice, it does not appear a person needs to test negative – although the government has been contacted for a confirmation on this question. 

EXPLAINED: Why did Switzerland relax Covid quarantine rules?

The quarantine change applies both to people who have tested positive and those who have had close contact with someone who has tested positive. 

“Close contact” will also be redefined. Now it will not include everyone someone with Covid has had contact with, but will be limited to the people they live with and people who had “regular and close” contact with a person who tested positive. 

The close contact quarantine will not apply to people who have had a booster in the past four months, but it will apply to those who have had two doses.

The unvaccinated will need to remain in quarantine for the original ten days. 

Cantons can decide to grant exemption to the quarantine rules. 

The duration of immunity under the rules of Switzerland’s Covid certificate will be reduced from one year to 270 days, i.e. nine months.

This is due to the belief that immunity due either to vaccination or recovery declines earlier than previously thought. 

The 270-day requirement applies to those who are fully vaccinated or to people who have previously had the virus.

This shortening of the time period for the validity of the Covid certificate will apply from February 1st, as with the EU’s rules for international travel. 

The current Covid measures, which are outlined in the link below, will also be extended. 

EXPLAINED: What are Switzerland’s current Covid measures?

While they were set to expire on January 24th, they will now be extended until March 31st. 

The government said the extension was necessary due to the situation in the country’s hospitals. 

Amid skyrocketing infection rates, the Swiss government said it had prepared additional measures which could be implemented quickly and immediately if the situation required it. 

“Should the situation in hospitals deteriorate significantly, the Federal Council can still act swiftly by imposing stricter measures such as the closure of facilities and institutions or by limiting capacity at large-scale events, regardless of the consultation,” the government said in a press release

The government is currently in consultation with experts and the cantons about these and further measures, including tighter mask rules and a change in testing rules.

This consultation will last until the 17th of January, however those listed here are expected to apply. 

For the full list of changes announced you can visit the government site HERE.

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