After issuing guidelines for preventative health centers in HCMC to take precautionary measures to combat an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in early August, The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has been focusing on implementing procedures for detection and quarantine at Tân Sơn Nhất Airport.

The first step was the installation of mobile disinfection systems at the airport last week:

“According to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the sterilization systems, which are sponsored by the German Government, are used in emergencies in case of very dangerous epidemics or disasters, particularly disasters caused by chemicals or toxic gases…Amidst the global risk of Ebola, the devices will serve disinfection activities and officials will keep suspect cases in quarantine before transporting them to medical facilities,” reports DTI News.

In addition, the Ministry of Health is planning to buy 10,000 sets of protective suits for health workers who may face exposure to the virus.

And then there are the drills.

According to VN Express, last Sunday, authorities at Tân Sơn Nhất held a drill wherein temperature scanners detected a fever in a male tourist.

Here’s a quick rundown of that the drill entailed:

- The patient is sent to a medical zone, given a face mask and checked for Ebola symptoms. 

- After detecting symptoms, the infected party is put into a protective suit and asked to give information about passengers that he was sitting next to on his flight.

- Border and customs police are informed and the patient is transferred to an isolation room for further screening and confirmation of infection.

- An ambulance takes the patient to a hospital and information about the case is reported to the airline and the flight manifest is collected. The names of those sat 2 rows in front and behind the patient are collected and the isolation room is completely disinfected.

Tân Sơn Nhất is considered to be the highest risk entry point for the Ebola virus into Vietnam due to the high number of international tourists it receives.

No cases of Ebola have been reported in Vietnam and it’s nice to see authorities taking precautions to make sure it stays that way.