Thread by @Laurie_Garrett

The @WHO DG @DrTedros addressed @UN Security Council today abt #Ebola in #DRCongo. Highlights:
"First, the security situation. Even when I was in Beni at the beginning of the outbreak, there was an attack just 15 kms frm the town. Since then there has been an increase.."
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[2]
"...in the frequency & intensity of attacks by armed groups in very close vicinity to Beni. These include a full-scale attack on the #DRC armed forces base on 24Aug, ambushes on MONUSCO on Sept 3 & 9, a rocket explosion in the centre of Beni on Sept11 & an..."
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"...indiscriminate attack on Beni town just 10 dys ago, Sept22.
As a result of the most recent attacks, which killed 21 people, our operations were in lockdown for several dys. But when we’re in lockdown, you know
#Ebola is not. Ebola gets an advantage."
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"We have taken every poss measure to ensure that #WHO staff are kept safe, but as we deploy more staff to the field, the risks increase of an accident, or a kidnapping, or one of our colleagues simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
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"The second significant barrier we are facing is pockets of mistrust within some families.
Community engagement is a critical pt of any outbreak response and in general, we have been successful in engaging the community about how to
prevent the transmission of Ebola."
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"But we are now seeing community mistrust, especially around Ndindi, which is where many of the most recent cases have occurred.
Small but signif numbers of people refuse active follow-up, or refuse to be treated in the #Ebola treatment units."
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"We are working closely w/religious leaders, youth & women’s grps & w/families themselves to overcome this obstacle.
Third, as a result of the security sitn & community mistrust, we are now seeing the spread of Ebola into red zones, and into areas bordering Uganda."
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[7]
"The red zones are the areas which are inaccessible because they’re occupied by armed groups. This spread is extending the long tail of the outbreak."
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