DRC Hospital Staff Strike Over Unpaid Wages; Ebola Reaches Two New Provinces

Staff at Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri province walked off the job on Monday, halting operations at a key facility treating Ebola patients. Dozens of employees, including epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers and gravediggers, joined the strike to protest two months of unpaid wages.

Al Jazeera reported that the walkout occurred as DRC’s National Public Health Institute confirmed on Sunday that the virus had reached Haut-Uele and Tshopo provinces.

Five provinces in the country now have confirmed cases. The latest figures show 1,926 Ebola cases and 702 deaths. The current outbreak is the worst in Africa’s history and has pushed nearly one million people into poverty, according to the United Nations.

DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba said last week that the government is working to resolve payroll issues and ensure employees are paid. Kamba added: “We must ensure that these payments reach the right people. We have faced a few challenges, changes to the lists, which have led to complaints from people saying they are not being paid even though they are working.

A second U.S. citizen infected with Ebola was admitted Monday to a special isolation unit at Frankfurt University Hospital. The man, in his 60s, contracted the disease while working for a Christian aid group in the DRC and was confirmed infected on Friday.

Timo Wolf, head of the isolation unit, said the patient’s condition is currently stable. The World Health Organization has warned that an accelerated response from local, national and international partners is urgently needed. The International Rescue Committee has warned that transmission is accelerating in already-affected areas and the risk of spread to South Sudan is increasing.