On Tuesday, representatives from the Berlin hospital that was treating a woman for a supposed case of infectious disease said that it is unlikely that the patient is infected with the dreaded Ebola virus. Emergency services were immediately deployed in the city after the woman, who reportedly just got back from traveling to Africa several days before the incident, became feverish and collapsed in her workplace.
Spokeswoman, Manuela Zingl, to spoke for the Berlin Charité hospital where the patient was taken said that, "The doctors assume an infectious gastrointestinal illness," adding that the hospital has yet to carry out more blood tests to be able to positively rule out the presence of the lethal virus that has already claimed over a thousand lives across West Africa.
Over 60 police officers, firefighters, and medical personnel were sent to lock down the location. In the process, over 600 people were isolated at the job center for several hours, and a couple of people who have been in contact with the patient were taken to the hospital for security purposes as well. The situation escalated when the woman, who is estimated to be about 30 years old, suddenly felt ill and began to manifest symptoms of the infectious disease. Medical personnel who were dispatched to the location immediately suspected the case to be one of Ebola, especially given the patient's previous travel destination.
Building officials and members of the community, on the other hand, we're thankful for the swift response of emergency services. They say that the security deployment around the employment center was very efficient, and that the decision to restrict access to the building as part of their security measure underlined their vigilance towards public security.
This sequence of events came less than a week after the German foreign ministry has advised its citizens to leave or avoid West African countries until the able outbreak has been brought under complete control.