Two Sudanese nationals placed under quarantine

The step has been taken as their yellow fever vaccination certificate does not have a date

Two Sudanese nationals have been placed under quarantine at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (GH).

The men, both reportedly from Khartoum, did not have a date on their yellow fever vaccination certificate, and so will be quarantined for six days from their date of departure as per international regulations, said Director of Public Health K. Kolandaisamy.

Mahmoud Abdelrhman Elhaj, 53, and Alwaleed Ahmed Abdalgader Salim, 25, are currently in ward 215 at GH, but have no fever or any signs of it and are not undergoing any treatment, said dean, Isaac Christian Moses. “They are here purely as a safety and quarantine measure,” he said.

While one of the men arrived on Saturday from Sharjah by Air Arabia, the other arrived on Monday from Doha by Qatar Airways, airport sources said.

“They were initially quarantined at the airport facility, but since there is renovation work going on there, they were shifted to GH,” Dr. Kolandaisamy said. Both were brought to GH around 10 p.m. on Monday. One of them is believed to be a student while the other is reportedly here on business.

Routine procedure

According to Dr. Kolandaisamy, who, along with the Director of Medical Education R. Vimala checked on the men and the facilities at GH on Tuesday morning, the quarantining is a routine procedure carried out in the event of passengers from yellow fever endemic countries not having a vaccination certification, having an erroneous certificate or having travelled within 10 days of receiving the vaccination.

“The vaccine takes 10 days to be effective so the date of travel must be post that. In these cases, there was a certificate but without a date on it, which is why the airport authorities placed them in quarantine,” he said.

The step was taken as their yellow fever vaccination certificate they produced did not have a date