Worst-ever Ebola outbreak, by the numbers…”394 new cases in 5 days”
394 new cases in 5 days: ‘exponential’ increase will require exceptional response, UN says
By Daniel Schwartz
CBC News
Sep 16, 2014
U.S. President Barack Obama will announce today a “ramping up” of medical assistance to the West African countries now in the throes of a worsening Ebola epidemic.
Obama administration officials said Tuesday that the U.S. is preparing to assign 3,000 U.S. military personnel to the afflicted region to supply medical and logistical support, aiming to:
Train as many as 500 health care workers a week.
Erect 17 heath care facilities in the region of 100 beds each.
Set up a joint command headquartered in Monrovia, Liberia, to co-ordinate between U.S. and international relief efforts.
Provide home health care kits to hundreds of thousands of households, including 50,000 that the U.S. Agency for International Development will deliver to Liberia this week.
Carry out a home- and community-based campaign to train local populations on how to handle exposed patients.
The number of cases and the numbers of deaths in the current outbreak already exceed the totals for all previous outbreaks combined.
“This health crisis we’re facing is unparalleled in modern times,” Bruce Aylward​ of the World Health Organization told a news conference in Geneva. “We don’t know where the numbers are going on this.”
The UN has also stressed how dire the crisis is.
“We’re going to have to do something quite exceptional, and we will, ” UN envoy Dr. David Nabarro said.
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