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Anna Gowthorpe

Britain is holding a very real practice for an Ebola outbreak

It features actors, a fake COBRA meeting and a Navy gunship.

BRITAIN WAS TODAY holding a nationwide exercise to test its preparedness for an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

The eight-hour exercise features actors pretending to have Ebola plus doctors, nurses and the ambulance service treating them at undisclosed locations around the country, as well as a Royal Navy hospital ship, RFA Argus.

It will be followed by a “simulated” meeting of the government’s emergency committee COBRA, the Department of Health said in a statement.

“The public can be assured that we have been planning our response to an Ebola case in the UK for many months now since the outbreak started in west Africa,” a spokesman for the Department of Health said.

“It is vital that we test these plans in as realistic a situation as possible — with real people in real time.”

The Ebola epidemic has killed over 4,000 people this year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), with Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone the worst hit.

Britain has only treated one case of Ebola on its shores.

William Pooley, a nurse who contracted the virus while working in Sierra Leone, made a full recovery last month after being treated in a London hospital.

But concerns have risen since a Spanish nurse caught Ebola while treating a patient in a Madrid hospital and the World Health Organisation has warned that other isolated infections in Europe were “unavoidable”.

Britain announced Wednesday it was sending 750 military personnel, a medical ship and three helicopters to Sierra Leone to help fight the spread of Ebola.

It also said Thursday it would start screening travellers coming from Ebola-hit parts of west Africa at Heathrow and Gatwick airports and on Eurostar trains from Belgium and France.

© – AFP 2014

Read: ‘Tackle Ebola now, or live with it forever’

Read: Nurses demand details of HSE’s Ebola plan

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    Mute Janet Coyle
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    Aug 16th 2015, 2:37 PM

    God Rest Him and Condolences to his family and friends it must be so hard for them when it’s so far away x

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    Mute Carmel Roselli- O'Keeffe
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    Aug 16th 2015, 10:03 PM

    Govan was an amazing talented footballer and chess-player from Portmarnock. The nicest and most humble family you could meet. Thoughts with his family-how terribly tragic and unfair. RIP

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    Mute Jim Kearney
    Favourite Jim Kearney
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    Aug 17th 2015, 9:20 AM

    Heard he was 1 in a Million. it’s always the good 1s.

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    Mute Cupid Stunt
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    Aug 16th 2015, 4:33 PM

    poor guy, dying miles away from home,I hope his family get any help they need to get him back.

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    Mute fuve
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    Aug 16th 2015, 6:24 PM

    Highly doubtful they will get any support at all. My little brother died in Australia suddenly and not one person gave my family any support from Ireland or Australia. The only helpful ones were the gardai from blessington station proper gents. They had to tell my mam. Irish embassy no help police in Australia proper gents and also helped her. She couldn’t fly over either because was the week of the volcano eruption in Iceland
    Airlines helped so much to trying to get her on flight. Cost my mam thousands to get my brother flown home. Not one Irish politician got in contact to offer assistance or condolences. Rest in peace poor lad deepest condolences to his family x

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    Mute John Payne
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    Aug 16th 2015, 9:22 PM

    Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest to be honest. By stating they are providing assistance, what they generally mean is that they have directed the relatives or concerned person towards the nearest embassy that Ireland has an agreement with, and that is as good as useless, from experience.

    Fact is, our passport is great when you travel, but shite when you need the government’s help (certain, well-known, exceptions noted). The U.S. Passport, and holder, while targeted in many places, is assured assistance throughout the world, albeit at a cost of paying taxes wherever you work….

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    Mute Janet Coyle
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    Aug 16th 2015, 8:58 PM

    Sorry to hear about your brother and shocking to hear the very little assistance you got at such a tragic and hard time x

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    Mute fuve
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    Aug 16th 2015, 10:50 PM

    Thanks Janet x if wasn’t for the decency of police on both sides and tireless efforts in helping our family I dread to think what would have happened. I hope this family get the assistance they need.

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    Mute Diana Moynihan
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    Aug 18th 2015, 7:59 AM

    Every parent’s worst nightmare, hope they find comfort in the fact that he was so happy travelling. It’s heartbreaking that he won’t get to tell them all about his adventure. Rest in Peace, sounds like you were one amazing guy

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