Fight against Ebola 'needs more workers'

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Wednesday reported mixed progress in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, pointing to encouraging signs in Liberia and a more worrisome trend in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Some 5,000 people have died during the current Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, with most of the fatalities in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

"There's some good news coming out of Liberia in terms of reduced number of cases, at least coming to the hospitals," Kim said in an interview on Wednesday in Seoul.

"But then there is more concerning news coming out of Sierra Leone, where regions that were thought to be under control have now seen a surge in cases, and this is what we see with Ebola - we see drops and then we see surges," he said.

"So the effort is going to take a long time. The effort is going to require ... thousands of health workers and we need countries to step up right now to provide those workers so that we can begin really tackling the end game, which is to get to zero in each of these three countries," he said.

The World Health Organization also said on Tuesday more international medical teams, new beds and testing labs, among other types of aid, are needed to control the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.

A Spanish nursing assistant who recovered from Ebola is to be discharged from a Madrid hospital a month after she was admitted with the virus.

She was the first person known to have contracted the disease outside of West Africa in the latest outbreak.

Australian commitment

On Wednesday, Tony Abbott, Australia's prime minister, said that his government expects to staff a British-built Ebola hospital in Sierra Leone by the end of the month after reaching a deal with Britain on treating Australian health workers who might become infected with the deadly disease.

For weeks, Australia has refused requests from the United States and Britain to send health teams to West Africa.

But Abbott said that while his government would not compel Australian health professionals to go Africa, it was now prepared to pay the way for doctors and nurses who volunteer to go.

He said Australia changed its stance because Britain guaranteed it would treat any Australian health worker infected with Ebola.

"In the last few days, we have had assurances from the United Kingdom they would treat any Australian who is working in the Ebola-impacted parts of West Africa," Abbott told reporters.

He said Australians would be among the 240 people required to operate the 100-bed British hospital being built in Sierra Leone, but that most of the staffers would be local.

Reuters - AP - Xinhua

(China Daily 11/06/2014 page12)