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Congo, Weary From Ebola, Must Also Battle Coronavirus

Associated Press

   BENI, CONGO - Congo has been battling an Ebola outbreak that has killed
   thousands of people for more than 18 months, and now it must also face
   a new scourge: the coronavirus pandemic.

   Ebola has left those living in the country's east weary and fearful,
   and, just as they were preparing to declare an end to the outbreak, a
   new case popped up. Now, they will now have to manage both threats at
   once.

   The new virus has overwhelmed some of the world's best hospital systems
   in Europe and ripped through communities in New York. In Congo, it
   could spread unchecked in a country that has endured decades of
   conflict, where corruption has left the population largely impoverished
   despite mineral wealth, and where mistrust of authority is so
   entrenched that health workers have been killed during the Ebola
   outbreak.

   It's also unclear how forthcoming international support will be when
   the whole world is battling the coronavirus.

   "It all feels like one big storm," said Martine Milonde, a Congolese
   community mobilizer who works with the aid group World Vision in Beni,
   which has been the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak. "Truly, this is a
   crisis within a crisis within a crisis. The community suffers from
   insecurity, and suffered under Ebola, and now may have to face
   COVID-19."

   Close to elimination

   In early March, an Ebola patient whom many hoped would be the last was
   discharged, and the outbreak was supposed to be officially declared
   over Sunday. But the World Health Organization on Friday announced a
   new case in Beni.

   The outbreak has claimed more than 2,260 lives since August 2018 -- the
   second largest the world has ever seen, after the 2014-16 outbreak in
   West Africa.

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