Ebola cases in the DRC reached 2,000, and the daily case rate more than tripled.

• Many cases are not counted due to insecurity and mistrust;
• The international community is losing the fight against Ebola. This rapid increase in the number of cases shows the need for a complete reset of this response;
• IRC continues to lead the fight against infection, prevention and control in the most affected areas.

Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo, 3 June 2019 – Today, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) announced that the number of people infected with Ebola in North Kivu had exceeded 2,000, more than triple the daily rate compared the time it takes for the epidemic to reach 1,000 people. While violence and insecurity continue to hinder daily activities and distrust prevents people from seeking care, these figures are likely an underestimate and not a realistic picture of the number of cases.

Tariq Riebl, Director of Emergency Response at the International Rescue Committee, said"The fact that we have touched 2,000 Ebola-infected people so quickly shows that this epidemic is spreading faster when it should slow down. We now see eight to 20 cases recorded every day, a figure that is probably very underestimated. Only a few months ago we only had three to five cases a day. To see such a peak in cases at this stage of the epidemic, a radical change is needed. This response requires a complete and complete reset.

"Community members do not trust medical staff and humanitarian organizations and do not enter health facilities when they have symptoms of Ebola. In Butembo, the current epicenter of the epidemic, doctors and nurses are under threat and health centers regularly attacked, hampering the response and compelling IRC and other agencies humanitarian organizations to frequently suspend their operations. To say that things are not going well is a euphemism. The large-scale activation declared last week by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee is a step in the right direction. We must now focus on the key issues in this response that impact our ability to end the epidemic. "

While some of our activities have been disrupted in the Butembo and Katwa regions, the IRC continues to badist 43 facilities in the region to host medical staff, as well as several hundred Ministry of Health staff working at the post offices. sorting essential supplies to ensure the safety of health care workers. In addition, we are supporting institutions in Beni, which have also seen a recent increase in cases, and Goma, to ensure that the city is ready for the spread of the Ebola virus. In addition, IRC works with women and children to help them by providing them with psychosocial care and other specialized activities to help them cope with the exacerbated consequences of an epidemic outbreak. ; Ebola.

With more than 13 million people in need of badistance, the DRC is one of the world's most complex, chronic, and oldest humanitarian crises. IRC has been working in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1996 to address the humanitarian crisis in the east. Since then, it has become one of the largest providers of humanitarian badistance and post-conflict development, with life-saving programs in the areas of health, economic recovery, protection of women and children and livelihoods.