Could Ebola be on the decline in Liberia, the epicenter of the deadly virus that has killed more than 4,500 people, mostly in West Africa?
Some local reports said fewer bodies are being found in Liberian communities. One such report quoted a police security coordinator between the Ministry of Health and the Red Cross who said burial teams are, on average, burying 10 to 30 corpses daily, compared to 30-80 in August or September.
However, it is unclear what might be behind this apparent decline.
Sam Bropleh, chief ambulance driver with the District 13 First Responders Services, said his service has been receiving fewer calls recently to pick up patients.
“With the help of God and our hard work in this country, I can tell you Ebola cases now are going down on a daily basis. Sometimes, we receive only two or three calls a day, sometimes four calls. And that’s all,” he said.
Bropleh would not comment on what he thought might be responsible for the seeming decline except to say that his ambulance service and first responders have been serving the country well.
“All I can say here is that God comes first in everything because, in Liberia, here I can tell you, everywhere you go, people talk about the first responders teams, the way we risk our lives just to help our fellow citizens, to get the sick people from the various communities to treatment centers. I can tell you the work I’m doing for [the] Liberian people only God will pay me, for I’m telling you man cannot pay me,” he said.
Bropleh credits the hand of God and observing all protocols for keeping him Ebola-free.
“I always put God first. As a driver, when I am picking up a case, I get my full gear on from head to toe, and I am all over-dressed. And, we are well trained about this particular virus. And, for me, I’m in line with every protective rule. People thought that I was going to come down with the virus because I’m an ambulance driver, but on a daily basis they see me going strong,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Sunday called on all nations with the resources to commit to the fight against Ebola. In an open letter read on the BBC, Sirleaf said "it is the duty of all, as global citizens, to send a message that they will not leave millions of West Africans to fend for themselves."
