From Deputy Chief of Mission Kathleen FitzGibbon

November 1, 2014: Please ignore the false rumor circulating that there will be a lockdown in the coming weeks.

There will not be a lockdown, according to the National Ebola Response Coordinator Chief Executive Palo Conteh. Rumors like continue to distract from the response efforts and it is important to go straight to the authority to dispel them.

Today, the Ambassador and I were pleased to see the progress at the site of the Ebola Treatment Unit at Lunsar. It will be ready to open mid-month and will be run by International Medical Corps. We also discussed the course of the disease in Port Loko District, a current hotspot, with the Centers for Disease Control team. It is assisting with infection prevention and control training in surrounding facilities and surveillance efforts. 

CDC has personnel working together with district health teams throughout the country. This team is co-located at the District Medical Officer, Dr. Kamara, and the new District Emergency Response Center (DERC). This is the first of the district-level centers and was stood on October 27 with U.K. assistance. In its first week, the DERC has overseen the pick up and burial of 64 bodies and placement of 50 individuals in holding centers. 

We were impressed with the team leaders, Captains Komba and Bah, from the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces. They were members of the battalion earmarked for Somalia, but are now deployed to strengthen the response. We should all be proud of their service in the fight against Ebola and applaud the command, control, and coordination that have produced immediate results.

There is a palpable sense of relief because the DERC can help manage burials and placement of patients into treatment centers. Bed capacity remains a problem in Port Loko district, as it does nationwide. We visited the former Red Cross vocational center which is being converted into a treatment facility. It was set to accept its first patient just hours after we left. There also are community care centers, which can hold between four to eight patients that may open this week.

We have heard that social mobilization efforts have intensified in the wake of the President’s visit last week. It will be critical to match that with treatment options for those infected. Port Loko is moving in the right direction even if it still has a way to go. However, new infections are a sign that although people may understand that Ebola is real, they are not taking the next steps to stop the transmissions. This is especially true with continued unsafe burials.