Guest post by Elizabeth Smith, guest blogger for the Canadian Red Cross
When Heather Cousins, a community health nurse from Woodstock, N.B., was recently on assignment with the Canadian Red Cross at an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone, she and her co-workers let off steam by dancing and singing songs that pleaded for Ebola to “go away”.
Today, their wish seems closer to being realized, as Sierra Leone has marked its first week of no new Ebola cases nationwide since the outbreak began nearly 15 months ago.
Officials are hoping they can soon announce the start of the countdown to an Ebola-free declaration from the World Health Organization after nearly 4,000 deaths in Sierra Leone. The country must now go 42 days - two incubation periods - before making the declaration.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leoneans are advised to continue to take all precautions, and educational campaigns and active surveillance efforts remain in effect.
View more stories on Red Cross' response to the Ebola outbreak.
When Heather Cousins, a community health nurse from Woodstock, N.B., was recently on assignment with the Canadian Red Cross at an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone, she and her co-workers let off steam by dancing and singing songs that pleaded for Ebola to “go away”.
Today, their wish seems closer to being realized, as Sierra Leone has marked its first week of no new Ebola cases nationwide since the outbreak began nearly 15 months ago.
Officials are hoping they can soon announce the start of the countdown to an Ebola-free declaration from the World Health Organization after nearly 4,000 deaths in Sierra Leone. The country must now go 42 days - two incubation periods - before making the declaration.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leoneans are advised to continue to take all precautions, and educational campaigns and active surveillance efforts remain in effect.
View more stories on Red Cross' response to the Ebola outbreak.
