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| As Ebola cases accelerate, Liberia’s sick must fend for themselves. | As Ebola cases accelerate, Liberia’s sick must fend for themselves. |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| MONROVIA, Liberia — Steps from a chance at salvation, or at least a less excruciating death, Comfort Zeyemoh walked slowly on Saturday from the Ebola treatment center, one of only three in a city that has been brought to its knees by the lethal virus. | MONROVIA, Liberia — Steps from a chance at salvation, or at least a less excruciating death, Comfort Zeyemoh walked slowly on Saturday from the Ebola treatment center, one of only three in a city that has been brought to its knees by the lethal virus. |
| The center was nearly full, and Zeyemoh, 22, wasn’t sick enough to gain entry, though she had started vomiting the night before and was feeling weak. Those are telltale signs of the infection that claims the lives of more than half its victims. | The center was nearly full, and Zeyemoh, 22, wasn’t sick enough to gain entry, though she had started vomiting the night before and was feeling weak. Those are telltale signs of the infection that claims the lives of more than half its victims. |
| “They sent us here for a checkup,” said her boyfriend, Moses Sackie, outside the Doctgors Without Borders facility. “Now they are telling us to wait for three days.” | “They sent us here for a checkup,” said her boyfriend, Moses Sackie, outside the Doctgors Without Borders facility. “Now they are telling us to wait for three days.” |
| With each day, the small group of caregivers trying to cope with the worst outbreak of Ebola on record falls farther and farther behind, as the pace of transmission of the virus rapidly accelerates. Facilities are full of the sick, and an increasing number of infected people are being turned away, left to fend for themselves. | With each day, the small group of caregivers trying to cope with the worst outbreak of Ebola on record falls farther and farther behind, as the pace of transmission of the virus rapidly accelerates. Facilities are full of the sick, and an increasing number of infected people are being turned away, left to fend for themselves. |
| The epidemic has killed more than 2,200 people in five African countries, and now poses a threat to Liberia’s “national existence,” according to its defense minister. Even worse, however, is what the World Health Organization has called its “exponential” growth in recent weeks, especially in Liberia. | The epidemic has killed more than 2,200 people in five African countries, and now poses a threat to Liberia’s “national existence,” according to its defense minister. Even worse, however, is what the World Health Organization has called its “exponential” growth in recent weeks, especially in Liberia. |
| The Doctors Without Borders center here has 160 beds and will add 25 more on Monday; at the moment it needs 1,200 — and a corresponding increase in staff — to cope with the epidemic, said Sophie-Jane Madden, a spokesman for the organization. As Ebola begins to race through this city, that number is certain to increase. | The Doctors Without Borders center here has 160 beds and will add 25 more on Monday; at the moment it needs 1,200 — and a corresponding increase in staff — to cope with the epidemic, said Sophie-Jane Madden, a spokesman for the organization. As Ebola begins to race through this city, that number is certain to increase. |
| “We’re just running behind the virus, aren’t we?” Madden said, “And taking the sickest people because we don’t have the capacity.” On Friday, 23 people were admitted, 25 were turned away, nine died and seven were released after recovering, she said. | “We’re just running behind the virus, aren’t we?” Madden said, “And taking the sickest people because we don’t have the capacity.” On Friday, 23 people were admitted, 25 were turned away, nine died and seven were released after recovering, she said. |
| Those deaths and discharges lead to the opening of occasional slots at the center, prompting the sick to arrive each day, hopeful that their timing and symptoms will get them past the gate. Even so, seven in 10 will die inside, slightly better odds than the nine in 10 who are dying in the community, Madden said. | Those deaths and discharges lead to the opening of occasional slots at the center, prompting the sick to arrive each day, hopeful that their timing and symptoms will get them past the gate. Even so, seven in 10 will die inside, slightly better odds than the nine in 10 who are dying in the community, Madden said. |
| On Saturday morning, Josh Tugbeh’s luck did not hold. He felt sick and weak, with pain in his joints that made it difficult to walk. But he had spent an hour on a motorcycle to get to the treatment center in Paynesville, on the outskirts of Monrovia, anyway. “I come here and they say they are not accepting patients,” he said outside the ELWA 3 center, as the Doctors Without Borders facility is called. “I want to go back home but I am not able to walk to go home.” | |
| It was the same at the JFK treatment center run by the Liberian government in another Monrovia neighborhood, where Jatu Zombo cradled her five-year-old son, Foday, beneath a tarp that someone had set up to block the sun. A few feet away, her 10-year-old boy, Zennah, lay on the ground. Both children were listless and visibly ill. They felt cold and had been vomiting. Their father had died four days earlier, and Zombo, 36, spent days calling for an ambulance that never came. Finally, her brother paid someone $20 in U.S. currency to bring them to JFK. | It was the same at the JFK treatment center run by the Liberian government in another Monrovia neighborhood, where Jatu Zombo cradled her five-year-old son, Foday, beneath a tarp that someone had set up to block the sun. A few feet away, her 10-year-old boy, Zennah, lay on the ground. Both children were listless and visibly ill. They felt cold and had been vomiting. Their father had died four days earlier, and Zombo, 36, spent days calling for an ambulance that never came. Finally, her brother paid someone $20 in U.S. currency to bring them to JFK. |
| But there was no room for the children. “No one has spoken to us,” said Zombo’s brother, Abraham Sesky. “So we are just sitting. We don’t know.” | But there was no room for the children. “No one has spoken to us,” said Zombo’s brother, Abraham Sesky. “So we are just sitting. We don’t know.” |
| At the former Redemption Hospital, now a holding center for the sick and the dead where no treatment is offered, an ambulance pulled up to the front gate Saturday afternoon and dropped off two adults and a young girl. The ambulance driver said the child’s name was Cynthia and that she was ten years old. | At the former Redemption Hospital, now a holding center for the sick and the dead where no treatment is offered, an ambulance pulled up to the front gate Saturday afternoon and dropped off two adults and a young girl. The ambulance driver said the child’s name was Cynthia and that she was ten years old. |
| Weak and wobbly, she walked a few steps before she lay on the concrete. Cynthia and the others could not be brought inside because workers were loading bodies, wrapped in white plastic body bags, into the back of a pickup truck. The area needed to be disinfected first. | Weak and wobbly, she walked a few steps before she lay on the concrete. Cynthia and the others could not be brought inside because workers were loading bodies, wrapped in white plastic body bags, into the back of a pickup truck. The area needed to be disinfected first. |
| As a small crowd gathered on the street of the New Kru Town slum, Cynthia called to the ambulance driver a short distance away, saying she wanted to go home. The driver told her not to move, to wait for the people inside to get to her. A woman began to wail and soon security personnel dispersed the crowd. | As a small crowd gathered on the street of the New Kru Town slum, Cynthia called to the ambulance driver a short distance away, saying she wanted to go home. The driver told her not to move, to wait for the people inside to get to her. A woman began to wail and soon security personnel dispersed the crowd. |
| Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately described Josh Tugbeh’s trip to the treatment center. It has been corrected. |