Canada and the Bahamas said on Tuesday they will temporarily ban residents from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan amid an Ebola outbreak.
Residents from those countries will be banned from entering Canada for 90 days starting Wednesday, the Canadian government said. It said the temporary border measure aimed to reduce the risk of Ebola entering and spreading within Canada.
The Bahamian government added that its entry restrictions would take immediate effect and remain in place for a period of 30 days, subject to review by the Caribbean country’s health ministry.
Reuters first reported that the archipelago would impose such a travel ban.
The World Health Organization on Friday raised to “very high” the risk of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola turning into a national outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has declared the outbreak there and in Uganda an emergency of international concern.
Last week, Washington banned non-citizens who had traveled to the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in recent weeks from entering the United States.