Hospital staff under observation after Ebola scare in Liberian capital

Eight health workers at a hospital in Liberia’s capital have been sent home for observation after coming into contact with a patient who later tested positive for Ebola, the country’s assistant health minister said Saturday. The incident occurred at the S.D. Cooper Hospital in Monrovia’s Sinkor neighbourhood, Tolbert Nyenswah said. The patient, a woman, was transferred to the hospital from a smaller hospital, and staff began treating her before an Ebola test was conducted, Nyenswah said.

You cannot be under observation and then at the same time go to work to expose people. No way.

Tolbert Nyenswah, assistant health minister

There are now eight patients who have tested positive for Ebola being cared for at treatment centres in Liberia, Nyenswah said. Seven of those are in Monrovia, while another is in the town of Kakata, northeast of the capital. On Friday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered officials to lift a curfew put in place six months ago and to reopen the country’s land border crossings.

Health Ebola