Ebola scare: Enugu residents wear gloves to work, market

Enugu – As the current news on Ebola virus makes wave in Enugu State, some citizens have resorted to taking precautionary measures to protect themselves from contracting the disease.

A correspondent who monitored activities in Enugu on Friday, reports that people were seen wearing on hand gloves to markets and their offices as well as buying hand santisers.

Also the people who use public transportation now put on long laboratory coats to avoid body contact with other passengers.

Mr Ndubuisi Iloh, a civil servant, who wore white gloves to an event in Enugu, said that it was a protective measure due to his usual culture of shaking hands with people.

“I usually forget that I should not shake people and because of that, I wear my gloves so that even if I shake, I will not contract Ebola virus.

“There are some elders you cannot afford not to shake because they will read a different meaning to it.

“Although they said it is when a person is down with sickness that he or she can transmit the virus, but how will you know if someone is sick or not when you see him outside,’’ he queried.

Mrs Ezinne Uduma, a house wife, who also wore white gloves to the market, said the gloves had become necessary, to avoid unnecessary contact at the markets.

“I thank God because I heard that the woman who sneaked out from her surveillance place in Lagos has been taken back; but the problem is that they said some people are under surveillance.

“We don’t know them and it is possible they are people we relate with; so I take precautionary measures to protect myself.

“I also bought hand gloves and sanitiser for my children because they attend holiday lessons. We are scared, but it is only God that can save us,’’ Uduma said.

Also commenting, Miss Ogechi Nwachukwu, an Economics student at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), said:“I go to school at Agbani campus and we usually struggle for bus. Many people sweat after this and inside the bus, especially when you are seating down.

“I bought this lab coat in the market so that people’s sweat will not touch me. Well, people usually laugh at me but most times, they think I am a medical student.’’

Sanitisers were no longer available at popular stores located at Independence Layout in Enugu metropolis while hand gloves now cost N900 as against N800 before the Ebola virus outbreak. (NAN