Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoSIERRA LEONE / SURGE 2
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: SIERRA LEONE / SURGE 2
TRT: 2.10
SOURCE: UNMEER
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14-17 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
17 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
1. Wide shot, Special Court building
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sidie Yahya Tunis, National Emergency Response Centre Director of Communications:
“For the past couple of weeks, two to three weeks now, Western Area has been recording 50 percent of the total new infections that we are recording on a daily basis. An so we feel that it is now time to increase our intervention, our surveillance activities, our contact tracing activities, institute neighbourhood watch groups within those areas that we have identified as hot spots within the Western Area, and that is what the operation Western Area Surge is all about.”
16 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
3. Various shots, ambulances being offloaded from a cargo plane
17 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
4. Wide shot, Special Court building
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sidie Yahya Tunis, National Emergency Response Centre Director of Communications:
“Thirty-three more ambulances we have brought in to add to the sixteen ambulances, which will give us forty-nine total ambulances in Freetown for the operation Western Area Surge. Because, don’t forget, we are increasing surveillance activities and be want to be able to transport sick people from within the communities faster to the holding centres.”
15 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
6. Various shots, suspected Ebola patient being taken away by ambulance
17 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
7. Wide shot, Special Court building
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sidie Yahya Tunis, National Emergency Response Centre Director of Communications:
“We are increasing our activities. We are going in with the community members themselves leading the process so that we can identify people who may be sick who we may not have found in the communities.”
15 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
9. Various shots, community mobilizers talking to local residents
Today (17 December) the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) joined forces with the Government of Sierra Leone and other partners to launch Operation Western Area Surge (WAS).
SOUNDBITE (English) Sidie Yahya Tunis, National Emergency Response Centre Director of Communications:
“For the past couple of weeks, two to three weeks now, Western Area has been recording 50 percent of the total new infections that we are recording on a daily basis. An so we feel that it is now time to increase our interventions, our surveillance activities, our contact tracing activities, institute neighbourhood watch groups within those areas that we have identified as hot spots within the Western Area, and that is what the operation Western Area Surge is all about.”
Ebola response partners are racing to reverse a spike in the rate of transmission of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases in the Western Area of Sierra Leone, the new the epicentre of the outbreak.
Ahead of the launch of Operation WAS, UNMEER flew to Freetown two new laboratories from Nigeria and Liberia, as well as additional data specialists to help speed up the reporting of laboratory results. New medical and ICT equipment have also been airlifted by UNMEER, including 15,000 blood vials and two new autoclaves. Transport and the holding of patients have also been given a boost with the arrival of eight ambulances and 76 motorcycles, and more to come.
SOUNDBITE (English) Sidie Yahya Tunis, National Emergency Response Centre Director of Communications:
“Thirty-three more ambulances we have brought in to add to the sixteen ambulances, which will give us forty-nine total ambulances in Freetown for the operation Western Area Surge. Because, don’t forget, we are increasing surveillance activities and be want to be able to transport sick people from within the communities faster to the holding centres.”
Operation WAS will focus on crucial Ebola response activities such as first and foremost, identifying and isolating potential patients, and increasing safe burials, ambulance dispatching, quarantine protocols, and social mobilization.
SOUNDBITE (English) Sidie Yahya Tunis, National Emergency Response Centre Director of Communications:
“We are increasing our activities. We are going in with the community members themselves leading the process so that we can identify people who may be sick who we may not have found in the communities.”
In partnership with WFP, UNDP, UNICEF, CDC and others, the surge will not only bring in urgently needed supplies and equipment, but will also see a ramp up in community mobilization, as well as surveillance and contact tracing.
Sierra Leone is now the worst-affected country in West Africa. Together, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have registered over 18,400 cases of Ebola, including 6,841 deaths.
