Hassi “government” tells Libyans not to go to West Africa

By Libya Herald staff.

Tripoli, 17 October 2014:

The foreign affairs ministry of Omar . . .[restrict]Al-Hassi’s anti-government in Tripoli has advised all Libyans and foreign nationals residing in Libya to avoid travel to West African countries “except when absolutely necessary” because of the outbreak of the Ebola virus.

Up to this point, there have been no reported cases of the virus in Libya or even in north Africa, though there reportedly has been concern in several of the country’s cities and towns about its spread.

Nevertheless, fear about the spread of the deadly virus in Libya is very real, especially given the poor state of Libya’s health sector. Given the shortage of doctors, nurses and other health care workers after the summer’s mass exodus of foreign workers, the scarcity of medical supplies caused by closed airports and roads and the steady flow of the wounded in volatile areas such as Benghazi and Jebel Nafusa, there is no way that Libyan hospitals would be able to respond to such an outbreak within this country’s borders. [/restrict]