Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
It was already the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Now it?s moving into Africa?s cities.
By Todd C. Frankel August 30 at 7:57 PM
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone ? The dreaded Ebola virus came to the children?s hospital in the form of a 4-year-old boy.
His diagnosis became clear three days after he was admitted. The Ola During hospital ? the nation?s only pediatric center ? was forced to close its steel gates. Fear swelled. The boy died. The 30 doctors and nurses who had contact with him were placed in quarantine, forced to nervously wait out the 21 days it can take for the virus to emerge. And remaining staff so far have refused to return to work...
Ebola is now spreading from the remote provinces and into the teeming cities such as Freetown, where 1.2 million people jostle for space.
Previous outbreaks had been limited to remote villages, where containment was aided by geography. The thought of Ebola taking hold in a major city such as Freetown or Monrovia, Liberia?s capital, is a virological nightmare. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that the number of cases could hit 20,000 in West Africa.
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And so now it is headed to Freetown, where the streets hum with low-level panic....
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The government has passed laws to limit close contact, altering the city?s daily rhythms. Riders in the city?s many ?Poda Poda? minibuses, usually packed shoulder to shoulder, are now curtailed to four people per row. ?Okara? taxi motorbikes are restricted at night. Even banks have cut hours to limit time spent in their crowded lobbies. And large public gatherings have been outlawed. The small cinemas where patrons would pay to watch foreign soccer matches on TVs have been shuttered. The popular clubs along Freetown?s Atlantic Ocean beaches are now empty.
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Many of the people who can afford to leave Freetown are gone ? some on vacation, others to foreign countries to wait out the virus. But getting out has become harder as several airlines have stopped flying to Lungi International Airport. Air France, under orders from the French government, became the latest last week. The nation?s school year is supposed to begin Sept. 9, but few expect that date to hold.
At the Lighthouse Hotel, the usual executives from the mining, pharmaceutical and banking industries are absent. The hotel is running at 15 percent occupancy...
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The city?s hospitals are empty, too. People avoid them over worries about catching Ebola. They would rather suffer at home and hope that what they have is just a mild case of malaria. It is not an unreasonable concern...
...
At Connaught, the Ebola ward sits behind a gate with prison-like metal bars. Staff members are covered head to toe in protective scrubs. The unit recently had 12 beds for 13 patients. At first, one or two patients were being diagnosed with Ebola each day. That picked up to three a day. Now, lab results on up to seven people a day are coming back positive.
The virus?s march into Freetown was slow to start. The first case officially emerged in mid-July. Six weeks later, the city had 30. The number now stands at over 40, and it is expected to quickly shoot up.
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...816ff2-2ed6-11e4-bb9b-997ae96fad33_story.html
By Todd C. Frankel August 30 at 7:57 PM
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone ? The dreaded Ebola virus came to the children?s hospital in the form of a 4-year-old boy.
His diagnosis became clear three days after he was admitted. The Ola During hospital ? the nation?s only pediatric center ? was forced to close its steel gates. Fear swelled. The boy died. The 30 doctors and nurses who had contact with him were placed in quarantine, forced to nervously wait out the 21 days it can take for the virus to emerge. And remaining staff so far have refused to return to work...
Ebola is now spreading from the remote provinces and into the teeming cities such as Freetown, where 1.2 million people jostle for space.
Previous outbreaks had been limited to remote villages, where containment was aided by geography. The thought of Ebola taking hold in a major city such as Freetown or Monrovia, Liberia?s capital, is a virological nightmare. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that the number of cases could hit 20,000 in West Africa.
...
And so now it is headed to Freetown, where the streets hum with low-level panic....
...
The government has passed laws to limit close contact, altering the city?s daily rhythms. Riders in the city?s many ?Poda Poda? minibuses, usually packed shoulder to shoulder, are now curtailed to four people per row. ?Okara? taxi motorbikes are restricted at night. Even banks have cut hours to limit time spent in their crowded lobbies. And large public gatherings have been outlawed. The small cinemas where patrons would pay to watch foreign soccer matches on TVs have been shuttered. The popular clubs along Freetown?s Atlantic Ocean beaches are now empty.
...
Many of the people who can afford to leave Freetown are gone ? some on vacation, others to foreign countries to wait out the virus. But getting out has become harder as several airlines have stopped flying to Lungi International Airport. Air France, under orders from the French government, became the latest last week. The nation?s school year is supposed to begin Sept. 9, but few expect that date to hold.
At the Lighthouse Hotel, the usual executives from the mining, pharmaceutical and banking industries are absent. The hotel is running at 15 percent occupancy...
...
The city?s hospitals are empty, too. People avoid them over worries about catching Ebola. They would rather suffer at home and hope that what they have is just a mild case of malaria. It is not an unreasonable concern...
...
At Connaught, the Ebola ward sits behind a gate with prison-like metal bars. Staff members are covered head to toe in protective scrubs. The unit recently had 12 beds for 13 patients. At first, one or two patients were being diagnosed with Ebola each day. That picked up to three a day. Now, lab results on up to seven people a day are coming back positive.
The virus?s march into Freetown was slow to start. The first case officially emerged in mid-July. Six weeks later, the city had 30. The number now stands at over 40, and it is expected to quickly shoot up.
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...816ff2-2ed6-11e4-bb9b-997ae96fad33_story.html