Highlights
As of 15 October 2014, the cumulative number of laboratory confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases is 2,977. The number of confirmed deaths is 932 with 571 survivors.*
Of the EVD confirmed cases, around 22% are children and youth (0-17 years). To date, 1,965 children have been identified as being affected by the Ebola crisis (972 girls and 993 boys), including 568 children who have been orphaned.**
All districts now have confirmed EVD cases, with Koinadugu reporting its first two on 15 October 2014. Cases in Western Area surge above 700.
The Ministry of Education with support from UNICEF, school-aged children are now benefiting from the Emergency Radio Education Programme (EREP). In its second week, daily lessons are broadcast across the country on a network of over 40 radio stations. All 7,740 schools remain closed across the country.***
On 16 and 17 October 2014, the Government, with the support of UNICEF is holding a Survivor’s conference in Kenema.
With ECHO support, a UNICEF charter flight arrived on 10 October 2014, with almost 100 metric tons of supplies funded by DFID and the World Bank. To date, UNICEF has chartered six flights with over 330 metric tons of supplies, worth over US$ 2.5 million for the Ebola response in Sierra Leone.
Funding is urgently needed to scale-up UNICEF’s response to the crisis; over 58 percent of the US$ 61 million appeal remains unfunded.
