HIGHLIGHTS
WHO releases guidance for decommissioning EVD care facilities
Staff from the Government of Liberia (GoL) Ministry of Health (MoH) visit Liberian counties to discuss decommissioning EVD treatment units (ETUs)
International and local EVD response actors meet in Guinea’s capital city of Conakry to finalize a three-year plan to revive the Guinean health care system
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
In collaboration with CDC, the USG Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), the Infection Control Africa Network, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the governments of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, WHO has developed and released rapid guidance for decommissioning EVD care facilities, including ETUs, community care centers, and isolation facilities. The guidance and corresponding checklist provide governments and partners with the knowledge required to safely decontaminate and close or repurpose EVD care facilities. To date, the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone have approved and the Government of Guinea (GoG) is currently reviewing the guidance, according to WHO, which plans to release a French-language version in the coming days.
Schools throughout Sierra Leone plan to reopen on April 14, according to the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL). Every school is required to have specific infection prevention and control (IPC) capacity prior to reopening. UNICEF currently has district verification teams working to assess the status of IPC protocols in each school. Humanitarian actors expect that the majority of schools will open on schedule, but IPC requirements could delay the opening of some schools.