Frankfurt authorities prepare for Ebola
Emily Sherwin
DW.de
29.08.2014
Are we ready for Ebola? It’s a question the German media have been asking for weeks. Frankfurt Airport has come under particular scrutiny due to its size. But could Frankfurt really be an entry point for the disease?
Ebola continues to rage in Africa. So far, the virus has claimed more than 1,500 lives in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. But the deadly disease has stirred fears on the European continent as well, triggering a string of false alarms.
With several airlines including British Airways and Air France cancelling flights to affected countries, European airports have been on the alert for weeks. As Germany’s biggest airport, Frankfurt has come under particular scrutiny. Over 58 million passengers pass through its sliding glass doors and terminals every year.
Don’t ask, don’t tell
The taxi drivers outside the airport’s international arrivals terminal are concerned that one of those passengers could be carrying the Ebola virus. “I often have a bad feeling about it,” one of them comments. “Every time I leave the airport here with passengers I always say: ‘May I ask where you’ve just come from?’ And then I can usually make up my own mind.” He says he has even considered wearing mouth protection.
Two others say they have a duty to take people to where they need to go, and they don’t ask where people have just come from. “What can you do? That’s the way it is. We have to keep working,” says one, and takes a drag from his cigarette.
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