HEALTH-EBOLA/FREETOWN BURIALS Number of safe Ebola burials triples in Sierra Leone capital

Record ID: 708175

  • Title: HEALTH-EBOLA/FREETOWN BURIALS Number of safe Ebola burials triples in Sierra Leone capital
  • Date: 28th October 2014
  • Summary: FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (OCTOBER 27, 2014) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** AMBULANCE DRIVING ALONG STREET / AUDIO OF SIREN (MUTE) VARIOUS OF NURSE TAKING PEOPLE'S TEMPERATURE VARIOUS OF NURSE PUTTING ON PROTECTIVE GLOVES CONVOY CARRYING UNITED STATES (U.S.) AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (U.N.), SAMANTHA POWER, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE POWER WASHING HANDS AND HAVING TEMPERATURE TESTED REPORTERS IN NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF POWER SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES (U.S.) AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (U.N.), SAMANTHA POWER, SAYING: "Since President Koroma issued his call to have every person in the Freetown area who is deceased, buried safely within 24 hours, these burial team are now up to above 95 percent of the cases being buried safely within 24 hours. That is from, what we were told was 30 percent just five days ago. So, I think with that example you not only see an example about of how the epidemic can be halted but you also see the ways in which all facets of the response have to come together" VARIOUS NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES (U.S.) AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (U.N.), SAMANTHA POWER SAYING: "There are set of practices that could cause a curve that is right now going in this direction, to flatten and then go in this direction, and the most obvious is the one I have alluded to which is safe burial. If people can, as hard as it is, given the long tradition there is of burying ones loved ones in a certain way, if people can follow the protocols now about how to deal with a diseased person in their community, in their family, even their closest love one, even their child, if people can discipline themselves to follow those protocols and resist the temptation to hug their loved ones and to treat them in the ways that Sierra Leoneans have been treating their loved ones for many, many generations. If they can resist that, they can be part of the solution and can avoid infection" VARIOUS OF BRITISH NURSES PUTTING ON AND REMOVING PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT (PPE) (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES (U.S.) AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (U.N.), SAMANTHA POWER, SAYING: "It's very important that health care workers who come, leave their families, leave their relatively comfortable lives, and visit here and are willing to put themselves in the vicinity of Ebola, is very important that they feel welcomed back in the United States. At the same time, I think there is genuine fear" RED CROSS VEHICLE DRIVING ALONG STREET
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sierra Leone
  • Country: Sierra Leone
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2AUE5CWAM1C7RK70ISPHZL4QG
  • Story Text: Sierra Leone's capital Freetown has tripled the number of safe burials of Ebola victims in the past week and the challenge is now to expand that co-ordination across the country, United States (U.S.) envoy Samantha Power, said on Monday (October 27) during a visit to West Africa.
    Nearly 5,000 people have died in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia during the worst outbreak of the haemorraghic fever on record.
    Many people have contracted the deadly disease from touching the highly infectious dead bodies of Ebola victims.
    Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person.
    Power will briefly visit the three neighbouring countries to see how the world can better deal with its response to the epidemic, which was declared in Guinea in March.
    She described the turnaround in the number of safe burials in Freetown as "encouraging."
    "Since President Koroma issued his call to have every person in the Freetown area who is deceased, buried safely within 24 hours, these burial team are now up to above 95 percent of the cases being buried safely within 24 hours. That is from, what we were told was 30 percent just five days ago. So, I think with that example you not only see an example about of how the epidemic can be halted but you also see the ways in which all facets of the response have to come together," Power said.
    A special phone number has been established in Sierra Leone to report a person who may be infected with Ebola, or for a body to be taken away.
    Specialised burial teams are then deployed with the aim of having the bodies removed within 24 hours of the call.
    Power, who will visit Liberia on Tuesday (October 28), said increasing the number of safe burials across the country could "make a significant dent in the curve" of infection, but it was also important to ensure there would be enough treatment beds.
    "There are set of practices that could cause a curve that is right now going in this direction, to flatten and then go in this direction, and the most obvious is the one I have alluded to which is safe burial. If people can, as hard as it is, given the long tradition there is of burying ones loved ones in a certain way, if people can follow the protocols now about how to deal with a diseased person in their community, in their family, even their closest love one, even their child, if people can discipline themselves to follow those protocols and resist the temptation to hug their loved ones and to treat them in the ways that Sierra Leoneans have been treating their loved ones for many, many generations. If they can resist that, they can be part of the solution and can avoid infection," she said.
    British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Peter West, said data shows that nearly 80 percent of infections in the Western Areas region, which covers Freetown, were from touching the dead bodies of Ebola victims.
    Britain has taken the lead in supporting the Sierra Leone government in tackling Ebola and has so far committed several hundred million dollars, some of which is being used to build some 600 treatment beds, 200 community care centres, train health care workers and burial teams and boost the lab capacity.
    Power also stressed the importance of foreign health care workers and honouring the sacrifices they make to assist in the efforts to stem the deadly virus.
    "It's very important that health care workers who come, leave their families, leave their relatively comfortable lives, and visit here and are willing to put themselves in the vicinity of Ebola, is very important that they feel welcomed back in the United States. At the same time, I think there is genuine fear," Power said.
    In the U.S., concern about the spread of the disease flared anew after the fourth case of the virus was diagnosed: a doctor who was infected after working with Ebola patients in Guinea and who is being treated in New York.
    The states of New York, New Jersey and Illinois have announced that people arriving after contact with Ebola patients in West Africa would be quarantined for the 21-day incubation period of the disease.
    The Obama administration is also considering quarantining health workers returning to the U.S.
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