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United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon
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The
deadly Ebola outbreak can be ended “by the middle of next year” if the world
speeds up its response, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has
said.
But
he warned that although the rate of new cases was slowing in parts of West
Africa, Mali – where six people have died – was now of deep concern.
And
the head of the UN Ebola mission, Anthony Banbury, said the world was “far
away” from beating the virus.
The
BBC reports that Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been worst hit by the
Ebola outbreak.
More
than 5,400 people have died in those three countries, along with a handful of
others in Nigeria, Mali, Spain and the United States.
In
a separate development, Liberian police said all the country’s beaches would be
closed from 29 November until Liberia was declared free of Ebola.
In
a statement, the police said anyone using the beach in violation of the order
would be prosecuted.
Speaking
at a meeting in Washington with officials from the World Health Organization (WHO),
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Ban said: “If we
continue to accelerate our response, we can contain and end the outbreak by the
middle of next year.”
Meanwhile,
the death toll in the Ebola epidemic has risen to 5,459 out of 15,351 cases
identified in eight countries by the end of November 18, the WHO said on
Friday.
Reuters
says the figures showed an increase of 39 recorded deaths and 106 new cases
since those issued on Wednesday.
“Transmission remains
intense in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone,” the WHO said, referring to the
hardest-hit countries.
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