The British health worker that tested positive for the Ebola virus while on a medical mission to Sierra Leone has arrived in the United Kingdom after he was evacuated from the West African country early this week. A Royal Air Force Jet flew the man to the RAF station in Northolt, West London. The man's condition is, reportedly, not so serious and he will be transferred shortly to the country's high level isolation unit at the Hampstead Royal Free Hospital in North London.
During this latest outbreak, this man is the first confirmed British case of the deadly virus that has taken so many lives in West Africa. He was living in Sierra Leone as a health worker. Upon his arrival at the Royal Free Hospital, the infected patient will be staying in a specially designed isolation unit with a controlled ventilation system that only authorized and specially trained staff will be allowed to access. United Kingdom health officials say that the risk of the virus infecting the British public is "very low." Deputy chief medical officer, Prof. John Watson, stated that, "We have robust, well-developed, and well tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases when they arise, supported by a wide range of experts. UK hospitals have a proven record of dealing with important infectious diseases in this patient will be isolated and will receive the best care possible."
A representative from Public Health England also said that numerous protective measures are going to be implemented to avoid the transmission of the virus among the medical staff attending to the patient, as well as to other Health workers in the country. Dr. Paul Cosford said, "For Ebola to be transmitted from one person to another, contact with blood or other body fluids is needed and as such, the risk to the general population remains very low."
NHS England's National Clinical Director For Emergency Preparedness In Critical Care, Dr. Bob Winters, also said that, over the past few weeks, all the necessary preparations have been made to make certain that any infected person that will be brought back to the United Kingdom will be able to receive the best possible medical care.