Re: Liberia - Ebola: 58 suspect/confirmed cases, 39 deaths as of June 26, 2014
Re: Liberia - Ebola: 58 suspect/confirmed cases, 39 deaths as of June 26, 2014
FrontPageAfrica (Monrovia)
Liberia: Getting Rid of Ebola Dead Bodies a Daunting Task for Liberia
By Wade C. L. Williams, 30 June 2014
"We need to find a special place to bury these corpses, if not, the bodies will keep piling up on us. If we don't bury them, they will begin to decompose and then that will be trouble for all of us." - A member of the burial team who spoke to FrontPageAfrica on condition of anonymity
Monrovia - On Saturday, June 27, 2014 four bodies of victims who died as a result of the deadly Ebola virus were buried but not without a hassle. Three of the bodies were near decay, as a burial team with one of the corpses was chased out of the Banjol community in lower Virginia in Montserrado County as they prepared to bury. At the ELWA Hospital Mortuary, another burial team displayed the face of a dead Ebola victim wrapped in a body bag to three members of their family.
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"We are finding it very difficult to bury these people who die from Ebola. The community people when they see us in these white suits, they think we are some ghosts; the other day they chased some of our other friends and they had to bring the other body, they took to bury back to JFK," said a member of the burial team who spoke to FrontPageAfrica on condition of anonymity.
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The Assistant Minister for Curative Services at the health ministry Mr. Tolbert Nyenswah said the ministry is aware of these difficulties posed to the burial teams and is doing all it can to alleviate it. "We met with the Montserrado County Superintendent and we are going to secure a place to bury people who die as a result of the disease," he said.
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Margibi County joins Montserrado and Lofa counties becoming the newest affected county as one death is reported there. Speaking to FrontPageAfrica on Saturday Minister Nyenswah said the number of deaths and confirmed cases has increased.
"On the 25th if you can recall, the cases were 35, it increased to 38. The confirmed, probable and suspected were 61 on the 25th it has increased to 70," he said.
"The probable confirmed and suspected cases in Lofa are 49, Margibi 3, Montserrado 18. The total number of people currently in treatment unit are 33; total number of deaths on the 25th was 37 now it stands at 46; 25 in Lofa, 1 in Margibi, 20 in Montserrado. The new cases are coming from Lofa, Margibi and Montserrado."
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At the John F. Kennedy Medical Center, Liberia's biggest referral hospital, the Cholera Unit at the facility has been turned into a center for Ebola and was seen busy all day on Wednesday with patients being brought in. The ELWA and the St. Joseph Catholic Hospital are the latest recipient of Ebola cases, both reporting deaths. FrontPageAfrica has also learned that another patient succumbed to Ebola Saturday at the Catholic Hospital. Authorities at the ministry of health told FrontPageAfrica last week that the disease is a national emergency and the government is taking it with a high degree of seriousness.
"The Ebola situation is critical. We are concerned; the reason it's critical is that we are confirming lot of cases, including health workers; so we're concerned right now that we are not seeing a downward trend of this disease yet," said Nyenswah. Mr. Nyenswah disclosed that last Wednesday another health worker died and it is suspected that he might have been infected with the deadly virus.
"The proprietor of that clinic whom I understand is a physician assistant died this morning upon admission in the emergency room," he said."Healthcare facilities; hospital clinics, health centers across the country; every health worker needs to take universal precaution on dealing with the situation so that we don't get more health workers being infected."
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Full text:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201406301362.html?viewall=1
