Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 1 Aug 2019
RWANDA HAS REOPENED its frontier with DR Congo after closing it for eight hours following a new case of Ebola in the Congolese border city of Goma, the DRC has said.
“Traffic between Goma and (the neighbouring Rwandan city) of Gisenyi resumed on Thursday afternoon after being closed in the morning without explanation,” a statement from the Congolese presidency said.
“The border has been reopened and people can move in both directions.”
The border shutdown coincided with the first anniversary of an epidemic that has claimed more than 1,800 lives, stoking dread that the disease may spread from eastern DRC to vulnerable neighbours.
In a statement earlier today, President Felix Tshisekedi’s office condemned a “unilateral decision by the Rwandan authorities” that affected citizens from both countries who had to cross the border as part of their daily life.
Goma, a city of two million people and a major transport hub, shares the border with the Rwandan city of Gisenyi, which has a population of more than 85,000.
Many people have jobs on the other side of the border while others have homes or put their children in schools in the neighbouring city.
“On the basis of a unilateral decision by the Rwandan authorities, Rwandan citizens cannot go to Goma and Congolese cannot leave Gisenyi but are prevented from going home,” the statement said.
“This decision harms a number of Congolese and expatriates who live in Gisenyi but work in Goma.”
It added: “The Congolese authorities regret this kind of decision, which goes against the recommendation of the World Health Organization.”
“Response teams are continuing to ensure that the city of Goma is out of danger,” it promised.
In AFP reporter in Goma and a resident in Gisenyi each confirmed in mid-morning that the frontier had been closed, while a Rwandan government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “it is closed”, without giving further details.
However, the Rwandan health ministry later said the border had never been closed.
There had only been a “traffic slowdown… as measures were put in place to reinforce screening procedures and public safety at entry points,” it said in a statement.
Health Minister Diane Gashumba told journalists: “I talked with my counterpart the DRC minister of health and clarified that the border is open and should remain open.”
According to the latest advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland, citizens are urged not to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo at this time, with the risk of Ebola described as “very high”.
Widening scare
Just hours prior to the border closure, a third case of Ebola was recorded in Goma, adding to two fatalities. Its virus causes fever, vomiting and severe diarrhoea, often followed by kidney and liver failure, internal and external bleeding.
Health workers are racing to find people who have had contact with these patients.
In an urban setting, density of population, anonymity and high mobility make it far harder to isolate patients and trace contacts compared to the countryside.
Goma is capital of North Kivu province, which has borne the brunt of the year-old epidemic, followed by neighbouring Ituri province.
Bad news came yesterday from South Kivu province, which had previously skirted the epidemic.
Fifteen people were placed in quarantine in Birava, 30 kilometres south of the provincial capital Bukavu, the chief doctor at the local hospital, Ciza Nuru, said.
They included a mother and her six children who come from Goma, and whose family head “had fled an Ebola treatment centre,” he said.
The first death in Goma, reported on 16 July, was of an evangelical preacher who had travelled from Goma to Butembo, one of the towns hardest hit by the outbreak.
During his stay there, he preached at seven churches and regularly touched worshippers, including the sick, and then returning to Goma by bus, investigators said.
The day after his death was announced, the WHO declared the epidemic a “public health emergency of international concern” – a move designed to step up the global response.
The step prompted a surge in funding pledges, including by the World Bank, which promised a further €269 million in addition to €90 million already provided.
With reporting from Sean Murray
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Anyone sad enough to watch deserves liver failure!!
People like drinking and getting really drunk, it’s fun. This is a reality.
i agree, but recently i have become worried that i might have bowel cancer, coz an ad on the telly told me to
Tallafornia is enough to turn people off drinking.
I watched a minute to see what it was about. It was enough for me to think about removing my tv altogether…..scumbags on tv
to be honest, I these shows are more about being scripted than reality TV. I seriously doubt it it true to real life, and I seriously doubt the majority of Irish youth would idolise such behaviour
Em, actually I’d say if you found yourself in a dublin nightclub in the early hours of a saturday morning, you might realise that a lot of Irish youth try to emulate such behaviour. My only point would be, that shows like this might show people how stupid they look when they get that drunk and act like that!
But Antoinette are they not people who are already drunken knobs? It’s not a TV show that is making them behave that way.
Maybe they should be made drink their own fake tan.
I don’t watch any of this tripe. But if watching them influences how you drink at home, then I’m pretty sure there is no hope for you in the real world.
I think Soaps are really bad for it too, time was when something happened they put the kettle on! Now after a murder or a fire they all break open the Ernest and Gallo.
Now to someone may watch Eastenders and go I wish I was like that moderately attractive single Mum with a sister in prison and no real prospects in life. They might just about. But who would watch the cretins on Tallafornia and think to themselves that they want to be like one of them? Does anyone really?
Unfortunately yes. They didn’t just make these people up. we’ve all known a few in our time.
Ive known some alright but they didn’t end up like that from watching a TV show, they were always knobs. Do you really think many people watching Tallafornia really aspires to that?
No they set a bad example for human existence period.
No they promote sterilisation and euthanasia!!
I think it sets a bad example for how to live your life….
Seems like wine companies have big share of eastenders and Corey street scripting. Glass of red is the new fag break.
Biggest load of crap ever put on the telly watched 5 mins to much of it!
I said that BLEEEEP also had a penchant for a few BLEEEEPS himself and it was kinda hypocritical to be calling BLEEEEP drink sodden.
Agh hey did it again!
“Your Say” Unless we don’t like your comment. Then it’s deleted without explanation.
What’d you say?
It would make you turn to drink just thinking about all the people who watch it religiously and talk about it all week. Fucking pathetic morons.
People drink at home cus it’s too expensive to drink out !!! I would much rather sit at home with friends and have a good natter and a laugh then sit in a smelly night club wer ya spend about 100 euro on a few drinks !! Bottle of vodka from Aldi and a bottle of coke 20euro !!! That’s why I drink at home anyway!!
and I do like a drink on Friday evening I work hard and deserve it !
I dont worry about myself of course!
but there’s no doubt that its peddling an infinitely watchable bad behaviour stereotype that appeals to 16-22 year olds! which is bad example and bad ethics – but more importantly its rubbish television!
‘twould drive ya to the drink if you gave it the time of day
ha ha WILLIAM ! BRILL i agree totally !!!!!!!!!!!!!! pass me a kag and a carafe of wine S T A T !! lol
have your say