A five-hour Ebola training drill was held yesterday, as part of a series of training drills that have been conducted for the past months at Mater Dei Hospital. These training sessions are aimed at evaluating and improving protocol at Mater Dei's Infectious Disease Unit (IDU) for the eventual treatment of potential Ebola Virus Disease cases.

Nurses at the IDU practiced Standard Operating Procedures for Ebola scenarios. Training has been stepped up following the evaluation exercise held after October 3, when a patient was admitted with symptoms suspicious of Ebola. The patient in fact was later found not to have Ebola but was suffering from malaria. Additional headgear has been procured for health care workers in line with WHO best practices.

For the past months, the Infectious Disease Unit has been proactive and has been carrying out Ebola Professional Training Drills followed by debriefing sessions where an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and areas in need of improvement is conducted.

In the coming days Parliamentary Secretary for Health Chris Fearne will be in Brussels to take part in a ministerial conference to assess and discuss the level of screening in Europe's ports of entry. Mr Fearne will have the opportunity to highlight the steps our country is taking in this regard.

Mr Fearne would like to thank all the staff at the Infectious Control Unit and the A&E Department for their valued collaboration and participation in this ongoing improvement process.