Ebola: 'Five infected every hour' in Sierra Leone as health supplies dwindle

A charity has confirmed 765 new cases last week but there were only 327 hospital beds available.

15:58 02 October 2014

Charity organisation Save the Children has confirmed that people in Sierra Leone are being infected with Eboloa at the rate of five every hour.

 

It also confirmed that another 765 people were infected with the virus just last week with only 327 hospital beds available. Because of this, it said that the "terrifying" rate of infection outstrips the supply to meet healthcare demands. 

 

Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has called for countries to increase financial aid, as well as other vital help, including medical expertise, transport and supplies.

 

"We need help from the international community to provide us with the doctors and nurses, so we're asking other countries to piggy back on the structure we've put in place," he said.

 

"Britain's got a footprint on the ground in Sierra Leone, we've got military engineers there, we've got a big DFID presence, we've got a plan to roll out a large number of additional Ebola treatment beds."

 

Experts claim that they only have 90 days to stop the spread of the virus, which could otherwise infect around 1.5million people by January.