Key pointsEbola deaths reach 2,516 in DRC \u00a0Response funding could run out within weeks\u00a0Dozens of frontline healthcare workers among dead\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re only covered for the next weeks, and very soon funding will run out,\u201d said Julien Harneis, UN Senior Ebola<\/a> Coordinator. \u201cEvery delay in funding and implementation makes this epidemic more deadly, more difficult to stop and more expensive. So, we need that international support immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, 5,290 people have been infected 2,516 have died, according to latest health authority data published on Friday.<\/p>\n Of the total confirmed number of cases, 1,152 people have recovered and nearly 840 people remain in isolation or hospitalized. The fatality rate is 47.6 per cent and contact follow-up is 82.9 per cent.<\/p>\n Deadly progression<\/p>\n Briefing journalists from the Ebola epicentre in Bunia, Ituri province, Mr. Harneis warned that the disease is \u201cgrowing exponentially\u201d, with half of all deaths occurring in just the last 20 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe epidemic is spreading to an area that is bigger than France. And the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response,\u201d he stressed, as \u201cbrutal\u201d operating conditions continue to impede the progress of frontline workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three months into the outbreak, 160 healthcare workers have contracted Ebola and 43 of them have died. \u201cAnd then when we do respond, apart from the threat from the virus, healthcare workers and frontline workers have been attacked by youths, ambulances have been burned and stoned and the healthcare facilities have been attacked,\u201d Mr. Harneis explained.<\/p>\n \u201cConditions on the ground are extremely difficult, but we will continue deploying all the humanitarian and medical assistance needed until the job is done,\u201d the veteran aid official said.<\/p>\n \u201cLast week, I was trying to get into an Ebola hotspot, and it took three hours to drive 60 kilometres (37 miles),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Another key obstacle to the response is the lack of basic social services in the six eastern, provinces where the virus is spreading (Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-U\u00e9l\u00e9, Tshopo, and Bas-U\u00e9l\u00e9), a direct result of decades of violence in the resource-rich area.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gaps in government-run, coordinated healthcare services and a limited number of banks have created further problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn this area, the banking system barely functions,\u201d Mr. Harneis explained. \u201cWe’re unable to bring in the amount of money that is required to pay the workers, which has led to great unhappiness amongst frontline workers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a9 UNOCHA\/Ramatoulaye Moussa Maz US aid boost<\/p>\n And although the United States has contributed $80 million to the DRC Government to boost bed capacity and safe burial practices, among other support, cuts to aid work – especially in the last two years – have reduced the capacity of humanitarian organizations by more than 30 per cent, he added.<\/p>\n Despite these challenges, multiple specialist UN agencies continue to work alongside the DRC authorities to push back Ebola. They include the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF<\/a>), the UN migration agency (IOM<\/a>) and partners including M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a disease, it’s an invisible threat which comes into your community and suddenly people start falling sick around you and your loved ones die,\u201d Mr. Harneis said. \u201cAnd that generates a lot of fear in any community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key pointsEbola deaths reach 2,516 in DRC \u00a0Response funding could run out within weeks\u00a0Dozens of frontline healthcare workers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-821213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n A woman walks through a camp for displaced people in Ituri Province in the eastern DR Congo.<\/p>\n