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August 21, 2014

Mass Ebola Quarantine Prompts Protests in Liberia; U.S. Doctor to Be Released from Hospital 
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In Liberia, residents of a neighborhood in the capital Monrovia clashed
with police and soldiers Wednesday after all entrances to the area were
sealed off amidst fears of Ebola. West Point is home to tens of
thousands of people. Residents there threw rocks and stormed barricades
after awakening to realize they were trapped inside. Police fired live
rounds and teargas. Over the weekend, residents in West Point stormed a
school where Ebola patients were being held, reportedly without medical
treatment. At least 17 patients escaped, but were later found and
brought to a medical center. The head of Doctors Without Borders told
the New York Times all healthcare facilities in Monrovia are "basically
closed" as the system has virtually collapsed. Of the four countries
affected in West Africa, Liberia has seen the most new cases. The
outbreak has killed at least 1,350 people, more than all other Ebola
outbreaks combined. In the United States, Dr. Kent Brantly, who received
an experimental drug after contracting Ebola in Liberia, has reportedly
recovered and will be released from the hospital today.

 

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