Sierra Leone Expects to Uncover 100s of Hidden Ebola Cases

News24 | Sept 11, 2014

[Covenantor]

Sierra Leone Expects to Uncover 100s of Hidden Ebola Cases

Freetown - Sierra Leone said on Wednesday it expected to uncover up to 20% more Ebola victims when it imposes a nationwide curfew to find the dead and sufferers who have yet to go to hospital.

The government has announced the shutdown, with the population of six million confined to their homes except for essential business, for 72 hours starting from 19 September.

More than 20 000 volunteers will go door-to-door to remove bodies and take patients who have not yet gone to hospital into the care of medics.

The government's Ebola emergency operation centre said 10 areas of the capital Freetown had been designated as "hot spots" charged with dealing with the surge in cases expected.

"Isolation centres including schools equipped with beds will be set up as we envisage a 5% to 20% surge during the exercise, which is aimed at breaking the chain of transmission," Steven Ngaoja, head of the centre, told a news conference in Freetown.

The Ebola outbreak has killed almost 2 300 people in four west African nations.

Sierra Leone has reported some 500 deaths from almost 1 400 cases since it registered its first infection in May.

The government has set aside $1.3m to cover the costs of the shutdown, most of which has been donated by the United Nations Children's Fund, according to health ministry spokesperson Yahya Tunis.

The health ministry has said it plans to distribute 1.2 million bars of soap - enough for every household in the country.

[Covenantor]

Sierra Leone tries short term curfew to find bodies and the afflicted.

[null and void]

The game of Ebola Roulette continues...

*click* spin *click* spin *click* spin…

Eeeee-bolllll-aaaaaa ping!

Bring Out Your Dead

We’re gonna need

a bigger cart!

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

[Vendome]

Just makes your blood boil...

[Smokin' Joe]

Ping…

A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread

[Black Agnes]

By next week it won’t be ‘hundreds’ of new cases, it’ll be ‘thousands’.

[Smokin' Joe]

Twenty thousand people to look for dead and infected? Do they have anywhere near the amount of adequate PPE needed?

...let the dead bury their dead...

[Smokin' Joe]

Yep. Next week or the week after, by my reckoning.

The initial plan was harsh, granted. But backing away from it will likely prove far worse.

[rwt60]

Frontline did a segment the other night about the hunt for victims. Experience has shown that PPE only scares victims and others into the forest. Now when they search they don’t wear it. They just maintain a safe distance. Transporters take any identified victims into an isolation center. The segment is available to view on the Frontline website.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Smokin' Joe]

You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!

[Forward the Light Brigade]

This outbreak is like a bad horror movie. Millions will die all over the world over this. The world should Nuke West Africa to burn out the sickness—but it will not-—facing a disease like this will test the world.

[Smokin' Joe]

I'm hobbled by lack of bandwidth at this location.

Now when they search they don’t wear it. They just maintain a safe distance. Transporters take any identified victims into an isolation center.

We have been seeking information on just how dangerous fomites are. I reckon we're going to find out (or the searchers will).