Highlights
In an attempt to curb the spread of Ebola, almost half of Sierra Leone’s 6.34 million population is under quarantine after the President’s announcement on 24 September 2014 to add the districts of Port Loko, Bombali, and Moyamba. Kailahun and Kenema are also under quarantine.
As of 28 September, the cumulative number of laboratory confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases is 2,000; (360 new cases since last week). The number of confirmed deaths is 568 with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 28.4 percent (based on confirmed cases).*
Of the Ebola confirmed cases, around 22% are children and youth (017 years), approximately 440 children. To date, 1,131 children have been identified as affected by the Ebola crisis (575 girls and 556 boys).**
Preliminary results of House to House campaign, supported by UNICEF indicate that 75-80 percent of the population was reached.
A UNICEF chartered flight with over 60 metric tonnes of supplies arrived on 26 September 2014. Another 25 metric tonnes arrived earlier in the week on an MSF flight. The charters included 41,000 protective coveralls as well as other critical health, nutrition and WASH supplies.
Funding is urgently needed to scale-up UNICEF’s response to the crisis; over 79 percent of the US$ 61 million appeal remains unfunded. A donor conference, led by the UK was held for 2 October 2014 in London.
On 23 September 2014, the UNSG appointed David Nabarro as UN Special Envoy for Ebola and Anthony Banbury as Special Representative and Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). SRSG Banbury plans to visit Sierra Leone on 3 October 2014. An advance UNMEER team has arrived in Sierra Leone this week.
IMF has approved US$ 40 million in emergency aid to Sierra Leone to cover part of the immediate balance of payments and budget needs.