PHL suspends deployment of new workers to three West Afican states amid ebola outbreak

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MANILA — The Philippines has suspended the deployment of new workers to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as the West African region is gripped with a fast-spreading Ebola virus that has killed more than 400.

Crisis alert level 2 was raised over the said countries by the Department of Foreign Affairs, which called on the 3,491 Filipinos there to “restrict non-essential movement, avoid public places and exercise the necessary precautions.

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“We continue to monitor the incidences of the Ebola Virus outbreak in that region,” Jose said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

The breakdown of Filipinos in each country are as follows: 880 in Guinea, 632 in Liberia, including 148 Filipino peacekeepers, and 1,979 in Sierra Leone.

“Most of them are skilled workers,” Jose said.

Confirmed cases of Ebola, a highly contagious and deadly virus that has no known cure or vaccine, in West Africa has reach at least 600, according to the World Health Organization.