Airport Ebola Screening Is Basically A Waste Of Time For These 9 Reasons

9 Reasons Airport Screening Is Unlikely To Save Your Life (Or Anyone Else's)

People arriving in the UK are now being screened for Ebola if they arrive at Heathrow, Gatwick or by Eurostar.

But the checks are probably not going to stop anyone with Ebola from actually entering the country.

Dr Chris Dye, the World Health Organisation (WHO) director of strategy, has said screening will "hugely increase awareness" but added that it was unlikely to detect anyone with Ebola coming into the UK.

Passengers are being checked at Heathrow

The screening itself - slammed for being haphazard and too relaxed - involves answering a questionnaire and having your temperature taken if you have left an Ebola-hit country in west Africa in the last 21 days. Then, you'll be assessed further if necessary.

Having measures in place certainly raises awareness. And amid what is now a global outbreak, visible preventative steps help to keep the public calm, if not much else.

Here are the reasons why the screenings are unlikely to actually identify anyone with Ebola:

Close

What's Hot