‘Border control not completely effective’

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Minister for Health and Medical Services Ifereimi Waqainabete with Head of Health Protection at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services Dr Aalisha Sahu Khan during the press conference. Picture: JONA KONATACI/FILE

CLOSING borders is not the most effective way to combat the coronavirus, says Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete.

He said lessons learnt from the Chinese outbreak and American Samoa during the measles outbreak there, showed that border control was not completely effective in keeping viruses at bay.

“We know through what happened in China, it went through borders,” he said.

“We can make the border as tight as we can and it can still go straight through.

“American Samoa closed its borders during the measles outbreak but it still got it.

“The border is only one part of how we can best address it.

“When you think about the other things that need to be done like quarantine and personal hygiene – these are old school things.

“These are lessons learnt after the 1875 measles outbreak.

“Those days, doctors did not have vaccines.

“They simply ensured good personal hygiene, quarantined the sick and got the people who were well to stay away from the sick.

“Those same measures work today.

“There is no magic needle, there is no vaccine.

“In this modern age of travel, the borders are porous.

“And if we are going to close the borders and wait for a vaccine, how long do we wait for? “Everyone is waiting for someone to make a vaccine and in the meantime the country will suffer big time economically.

“So far the World Health Organisation has not given advice to close all trade and travel, it has not issued that advice yet.”

More than 130 people have lost their lives to the virus and it has infected in excess of 4600 people

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