South Korea has beefed up its safety training for healthcare workers who will leave for Ebola-hit Sierra Leone following concerns about the possible infection of a medical worker, officials said Tuesday.
A team of 10 medical staff, to be dispatched to the West African country soon, has been undergoing rigorous safety training since Monday to prevent themselves from being infected with the deadly virus, according to the foreign and health ministries.
They have received more intensive training such as how to wear and take off protective suits, and how to safely collect blood from an Ebola patient, they added.
“To prevent a possible infection, the government will continue to update the content of the safety training if necessary,” said an official.
The move comes as an unidentified health care worker has been hospitalized in a Berlin hospital since Saturday after the worker’s index finger came into contact with a needle through a partly ripped glove while collecting blood from an Ebola patient.
The worker was one of the 10-strong medical team sent by South Korea to an Ebola clinic built by Britain in Goderich, near Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. Seoul plans to send 20 other medical workers to the West African country in the coming months.
South Korea has joined global efforts to fight Ebola by sending medical workers and offering a combined US$12.6 million in assistance. The virus is estimated to have killed more than 8,000 people since December 2013, according to the World Health Organization. (Yonhap)
