Mabel Whenzle Intern FBC
6th November, 2014:
The Chief Executive Officer of National Ebola Response Centre Retired Major Palo Conteh has maintained that the State of Emergency invoked by His Excellency the president is still in full force and is expected to run for a one year period.
Addressing members of the fourth estate, Retired Major Palo Conteh frowns at individuals who continue to detract the smooth operations of the Response Team by way of spreading malicious rumours regarding a lockdown and making of hoax calls to the 117 call centre, this, according to him, poses a serious threat in delaying the response time of people who are in dire need of help.
On the issue of additional treatment centres, the Rtd. Major said the treatment centre at Kerry Town has been completed and handed over to a Non-Governmental Organization, Save the Children. He observed that with the opening of the new laboratory at Kerry town, the testing capacity has immensely increased from 250 tests per day to 500. It is expected that the 100 bed capacity treatment centre will serve both medical personnel and the general public.
The CEO underscored the need for the public to report any deaths that occurred in the homes in order to fast-track the burial arrangements of deceased within 24 hours. He urged the public to refrain from harbouring or touching the sick and encouraged family members whose loved ones fall ill to take them to treatment centres for proper medical attention. “Those who are hospitalized and die of other ailments apart from Ebola will be accorded normal funeral rites. However a copy of the patient’s hospital chart, death certificate and stamped and sign letter from the medical doctor stating the cause of death will be required. ’’He added.
Furthermore, the CEO, commended survivors of the deadly Ebola virus disease and pleaded with community members to stop the on-going stigmatization and accept these survivors back into their various communities.
In conclusion, the CEO lauded the effort of community leaders in Kenema and Kailahun for ensuring that their people adhere to the messages from the health professionals which he said has resulted in the drastic reduction on the number of new infections within those communities and encouraged members of other communities to emulate such footsteps.
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