A Kenyan court on Friday temporarily blocked the opening of a new Ebola quarantine center for U.S. nationals on the same day the facility was set to open.
The U.S. and the Kenyan government recently reached an agreement allowing Washington to establish the center to monitor U.S. citizens from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, where the Ebola outbreak is concentrated. But a Kenyan advocacy group known as Katiba Institute challenged the development, alleging the 50-bed facility was being established in a “secretive, unilateral” manner that “raises grave constitutional concerns regarding the rights to life, health, fair administrative action, public participation, and parliamentary oversight.”
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“A conservatory order is hereby issued restraining the respondents from establishing … any Ebola exposure, quarantine, isolation or treatment facility in Kenya,” Kenyan High Court Judge Patricia Nyaundi said, in response to the challenge.
The order temporarily bars the facility from opening until the case is heard and resolved. The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2.
The facility lies in Kenya, which neighbors Uganda, where some Ebola cases have popped up. The Trump administration is donating $13.5 million toward Kenya’s Ebola preparedness and response.
The new quarantine center Washington planned would be at Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya, about 124 miles from Nairobi, and would house U.S. citizens who were exposed to Ebola but are still asymptomatic. Patients who develop symptoms would be sent for care in other countries outside the U.S. and Kenya, according to Reuters.
As of Thursday, the U.S. was not aware of any exposed Americans who were to be transported to the center, according to CBS News.
The facility sparked controversy due to some Kenyans who criticized the Trump administration for refusing to allow citizens exposed to Ebola into the U.S.
“If it is too dangerous for America, it is too dangerous for Kenya,” the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union said.
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The latest Ebola outbreak is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the African country, and 223 suspected deaths linked to the virus, according to the World Health Organization.
There has been one death from the virus in Uganda, as well as nine confirmed cases, according to the country’s health ministry.
