00:01The numbers speak for themselves, but behind these figures lies the reality of affected
00:08communities who, in addition to dealing with this outbreak, must also face an infodemic.
00:16The spread of rumors and misinformation that fuels fear and rumors, even mistrust to the
00:23response, is also concerning as well.
00:26Even today, we see people refusing to go to treatment centers when, for example, showing
00:33suspected symptoms or resisting critical measures we implement to break the chain of
00:39transmission, such as, for example, safe and dignified barriers.
00:43Alex, what are the control measures in place and are they keeping up with the rate of the
00:49spread?
00:50The main control measures are all those implemented to break the chain of transmission and also
00:56those implemented in order to reinforce the early detection.
01:01Because now the virus is spreading in community because we now know that the virus has been
01:07discovered too late.
01:09The sooner we discover the virus, the sooner we can detect people, the sooner we can isolate
01:15them.
01:15And we also reduce the chance for them to get more people contaminated.
01:21Another very important measure to break the chain of transmission are the safe and dignified
01:27burials.
01:28Because you know, even after death, the body of someone victim of Ebola remains highly contagious.
01:33This is why we need to handle his body with very strict protocol following very high standards.
01:41Those are kind of works, the volunteers of the GRC Red Cross we are supporting, implementing
01:47every day on the field.
01:49What's happening with any rollout of vaccines there, Alex?
01:52Thanks.
01:55According to the latest news, the country will receive a stock of vaccine for the Zari variant.
02:04According to the news still, a portion of this will be used for clinical trials and another
02:10portion will be made available for the frontline healthcare workers.
02:15You know that over 160 of them has been contaminated so far, with, unfortunately, approximately 40 of
02:25them claimed death, unfortunately.
02:31Given that we really welcome this measure to protect the healthcare frontline workers.
02:40And that said, and regarding the community challenge, they are still enormous, and we must redouble
02:48our effort in rolling out the response for rapid detection in the community and measures
02:54to break the chain of transmission, like I was explaining.
02:57As you say, the health workers are really on the frontline here.
03:00How is the health system coping with this amount of cases?
03:07On the frontline, the challenge are real, and the workload is also huge as the number of cases
03:15continues to rise.
03:17I remember, for example, speaking with Ramazani, who is a clinic administrator and who contracted,
03:25unfortunately, the disease from patients at a time when we didn't even know we were dealing
03:30with this virus.
03:32This to illustrate the level of exposure healthcare workers face and to support them, we are implementing
03:38also an infection prevention and control program to provide them essential protective equipment,
03:44as well as training on life-saving practices to protect them while they are doing their life-saving
03:52job.
03:52The UN says aid funding for Ebola and the DRC only covers the next few weeks.
04:00What's needed as those resources get further stretched and aid runs out?
04:07I want first to draw you the picture of the response.
04:11We have those essential activities we are implementing in order to improve the early detection, in order
04:18to break the chain of transmission, and in order to protect the community more globally.
04:23We need them to be more involved in the response.
04:25This is why the volunteers go door to door, speak with the community, listen to them, listen
04:30to their consent, and spread very life-saving information.
04:35But to do so, we really need means.
04:38We need resource mobilization.
04:40We need very essential humanitarian supplies, and we also need to put in place training in
04:47order to reinforce capacities.
04:51Yes, the funding remains a concern, but more importantly, our ability to explain the threat
04:58this virus represents and the measures, the concrete measures we are putting in place on
05:04the field is also important.
05:05And this is why I want to thank you to give us this place to explain it to your audience.
05:10And of course, we're talking about a region here already gripped by armed conflict, food insecurity.
05:16How is this further compounding those existing struggles?
05:23Yes, insecurity, talking about this, is an aggravating factor that can complicate the situation.
05:34And let me explain why, for example, when we deploy to certain areas and travel to conduct
05:42essential activities, we now require greater caution, verification, and precautionary measures
05:51on our end.
05:53This unfortunately can delay the response to the community in urgent need and thereby increase
05:59their exposure to tragedy.
06:01This is an unfortunate situation, but we have to, yes, deal with it.
06:08More� dices, Hagrid, come to our scene.
06:08Very many times, this would make us a pause very唱 orange.
06:08We were sitting and placed on our knees and focused on our shoulders so that we can
06:09try to do all those things, the fair, then we hope we do that.
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