00:00The World Health Organization says they are encouraging signs in the fight against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
00:07but once the outbreak continues to spread and cases are rising sharply in part of the East,
00:13the WHO said transmission was declining in the hardest-hit areas of Ituri province,
00:19while South Kivu has reported new cases since May.
00:22We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining ground.
00:29In the most affected parts of Ituri province, transmission is going down.
00:35South Kivu has reported no new cases since May.
00:39More than 1,700 people have recovered.
00:43And after four months, the epidemic has been contained mostly in the north-eastern DRC.
00:53But WHO says the situation remains fragile, while more than 7,200 cases and over 3,500 deaths reported across
01:02seven provinces.
01:04While we are seeing some positive signs in terms of the response itself and our ability to track cases,
01:11to do contact tracing, we can be cautiously optimistic about what is happening,
01:17but I think we need to be realistic about the road that's ahead of us.
01:22Looking at trends takes time, and I think there are a couple of provinces where we're seeing increases in cases,
01:28in North Kivu, where we've seen a doubling of cases, as the DG has mentioned.
01:35WHO says continued surveillance, contact tracing, and rapid response will be crucial to containing the outbreak.
