Coronavirus: Gabon bans entry of passengers from China

Gabon announced on Friday that it was suspending access to its territory for all passengers from China in an attempt to prevent any contamination by the coronavirus.

“To date, no suspicious or reported cases have been recorded on the national territory,” the Gabonese government said in a statement. “However, in view of the spread of this epidemic beyond the epicentre, the government has decided to raise the level of surveillance and to suspend, until further notice, the access to the national territory of any passenger coming from China.

Such a ban is likely to affect the Gabonese economy because thousands of Chinese work in this Central African country, particularly in oil, mineral and timber exploitation, on which its revenues depend heavily, as well as in construction and public works.

Libreville has identified 93 Gabonese living in Wuhan and its surroundings, the Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic, but “to date, no case of contamination has been recorded among our compatriots living in China,” the government continues, saying it is preparing to “prepare for any eventuality, including the repatriation of Gabonese nationals, under the control of the WHO.