adminNew York – Sierra Leone says between 80 and 100 new cases of Ebola are being reported every day and it desperately needs over 1,000 beds to treat victims in the country now facing the most serious outbreak of the disease. Sierra Leone’s Finance Minister Kaifalah Marah painted a grim picture to the UN Economic and Social Council on Friday of the challenges facing the West African nation, which failed to meet a goal of isolating 70 percent of Ebola patients and safely burying the victims by December 1.
The two other hard-hit countries, Liberia and Guinea, did meet the deadline, and the UN’s Ebola chief Dr David Nabarro said the number of new cases in Liberia has dropped from 60 per day in September to 10 per day.
Meanwhile, two more Sierra Leonean doctors have died from Ebola, further depleting the West African country’s ability to respond to the devastating outbreak, health officials said on Saturday.
The deaths bring the number of Sierra Leonean doctors killed by Ebola to nine. The disease is spread through the bodily fluids of people showing symptoms and people who have died of the disease. Because transmission requires close contact with those fluids, health workers are among the most at risk of contracting it and hundreds have become infected in this outbreak.
Dr Thomas Rogers, who had worked at Connaught Hospital in the capital, died Friday, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr Brima Kargbo. Dr Dauda Koroma also died on Friday, said Dr Jonathan Abass Kamara, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry.
In all, 11 Sierra Leonean doctors have been infected; one has been cured and another is still in treatment.
Ebola has sickened more than 17,500 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Of those, about 6,200 have died. The disease is currently spreading fastest in Sierra Leone.
The high number of infections in health workers has deterred many from volunteering to work on Ebola wards, especially local health workers. — AP
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