Bahamas: No quarantine, cholera or epidemic
The Bahamian Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have sought to reassure the public that none of the islands in the territory are under quarantine.
In a statement, the Ministry and PAHO said floods can potentially increase the transmission of water-borne and communicable diseases. “Nevertheless, there have not been any detected cholera cases at the moment, nor any increased number of infectious diseases due to the hurricane.”
The Ministry of Health and PAHO recommends that the population in the affected areas drink and use safe water and also continue to practice good hygiene such as hand washing to prevent water-borne diseases.
“After a disaster the priority is to care for the survivors. Contrary to common belief, there is no evidence that corpses pose a significant risk of disease “epidemics”. This is because most agents e.g., virus and bacteria do not survive long in the human body after death.”
The Ministry of Health is monitoring the health situation closely and will keep the public updated.
Meanwhile, The Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) has issued a Notice to Air Men (NOTAM) to improve the management of the airspace to prevent accidents, stating that the saturated airspace was creating a volatile situation.
The Aviation Authority said the notice means airspace is restricted over Grand Bahama and the Abacos.
“Only aircraft providing emergency and humanitarian relief authorized by Civil Aviation are able to fly in the restricted airspace. Over 200 private planes have already been authorized by BCAA.
The Aviation authority also stated that no flights are currently authorized to charge fees for evacuations.
“Civil Aviation is aware of reports of commercial activity and will be revoking the flight authorizations of aircraft found to be charging fees.”
The organisation said that staff is on the ground to monitor and identify aircraft suspected of breaching the conditions of their authorization.
“This includes flights that are found to be bringing sightseers instead of relief support.”
