Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Lid Blows Off WHO's Operation Happygas

Breaking:

WHO notices horses are gone, Sierra Leone rushes to lock barn:
(AP/ABC) Health workers sent to Sierra Leone to investigate an alarming spike in deaths from Ebola have uncovered a grim scene: piles of bodies, overwhelmed medical personnel and exhausted burial teams.
The World Health Organization says the health workers from several local and international agencies are racing to the latest Ebola hotspot, a diamond-mining area that Sierra Leone put on "lockdown" Wednesday.
"In 11 days, two teams buried 87 bodies, including a nurse, an ambulance driver, and a janitor who had been drafted into removing bodies piled up at the only area hospital," the WHO said in a statement Wednesday night.
"Our team met heroic doctors and nurses at their wits end, exhausted burial teams and lab techs, all doing the best they could, but they simply ran out of resources and were overrun with gravely ill people," said Dr. Olu Olushayo, an official in WHO's response Ebola team.
In the five days before its members arrived, 25 people had died in a makeshift, cordoned-off section of the hospital in Sierra Leone's eastern Kono district. The Ebola virus carries its heaviest load right after death, with bodies being a frightening source of contagion.
Sierra Leone authorities said they ordered a two-week "lockdown" there until Dec. 23, in hope of containing transmission of the virus, which was confirmed in seven people Tuesday.
People will be able to move within the district, but no one will be allowed to enter or leave, said Emmanuel Lebbie, a local official of the Independent Media Commission.
 Oopsie. Guess the celebrations were still a bit premature...

No comments:

Post a Comment