Ebola in Liberia: Nurses test thousands with just three thermometers.

Ebola in Liberia: Nurses test thousands with just three thermometers. HT: Crof.

Via the Daily Observer: Nurses Use 3 Thermometers on Thousands. Excerpt:

The Government of Liberia has begun testing citizens in eight counties for the deadly Ebola disease. 

This testing of individuals is meant to control the spread from counties believed to be highly infected with the killer disease. 

Several counties, including Bomi, Lofa, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, Margibi Montserrado and Grand Gedeh, have been controlled to regulate the movement of people going in and out of those areas. 

The Daily Observer recently discovered that the control process as announced by the Liberian government took a different dimension as the temperatures of those leaving from one area to another were tested by nurses assigned at various checkpoints using only three thermometers. 

The testing process has been questioned by some segments of the Liberian society, including foreign nationals who visited Bomi over the weekend. 

Bomi County is among eight counties quarantined by the Liberian government. 

In an interview with the Daily Observer over the weekend, Mr. Shang Guan, a Chinese national, said the intention of the government is good but is also dangerous to the health of citizens and foreigners alike. 

Mr. Guan refused to be tested with any of the three thermometers used by the county health team at the Bomi checkpoint. 

He said the use of manual thermometers to check the temperature of travelers as a means of containing the spread of the deadly virus was not the right thing to do.

Experts have said that one way the deadly Ebola virus is spread is through contact with bodily fluids. Thermometers are either inserted in the mouth or under the arm, both of which involve the transfer of saliva and sweat respectively.