The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is rapidly worsening: the death toll has reached 3,779, with a total of 7,820 confirmed cases. The situation is most severe in North Kivu province, according to infohub.kz.
Reuters reports that in the city of Butembo, home to two million people, medical centers are overwhelmed, and critically ill patients cannot get a free bed.
"Over the past two weeks, we have seen a very sharp rise in the number of cases. Sometimes we encounter patients who know they have Ebola but cannot find a hospital bed," the publication quotes Stéphanie Hoffmann, project coordinator for the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders.
City authorities have opened two additional medical centers due to increased demand, but some patients arrive in such poor condition that doctors can no longer help them.
According to Hoffmann, a few days ago a 10-year-old boy died literally in her arms — he passed away in the emergency room while waiting for a spot in the clinic.
Frontline health workers note that cases continue to emerge in new and ill-prepared areas.
"It would be a mistake to assume the outbreak is under control because some Ebola treatment centers are seeing fewer patients. The outbreak is not shrinking, it is spreading," said Anthony Kergosien, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the DRC allocated 20,000 doses of an Ebola vaccine for clinical trials.