UN says Ebola epidemic still huge and growing

On Tuesday, UN officials revealed that the Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo was still substantial and on the rise, though some progress was being made. Julien Harneis, the UN special Ebola coordinator, stated during a press briefing in Geneva that while there were areas of improvement, others continued to witness a surge in cases. This outbreak is the second-deadliest in recorded history, surpassed only by the West African Ebola epidemic from 2014 to 2016.

Olivier le Polain, a World Health Organization representative, was asked about reports that the epidemic might be turning a corner, but emphasized that "it's too early to confidently say we have passed a peak." On Saturday, Congo's Health Minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, shared encouraging signs from the battle against Ebola, noting that "the peak reached in mid-August" had started to see a gradual slowing down of transmission.

Daily new cases had decreased from roughly 120 during the epidemic's peak to around 80, and 10 of the 62 affected health zones reported no new cases for over 22 days.

Kamba expressed optimism, stating that these figures demonstrated that ground-level efforts were yielding results and that their response strategy was starting to alter the transmission curve. However, he urged caution, emphasizing that despite these promising results, the fight against Ebola must continue with full mobilization. As of Tuesday, there have been 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths across seven provinces, according to government data.