MONROVIA, Liberia — Authorities in Liberia opened a new center to treat Ebola patients in the capital Saturday after the existing one became overwhelmed with patients. The first center in Monrovia was only meant to treat 25 people but had about 80 patients as of Friday, said Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah. The new center will have 120 beds but may eventually be tripled in size because of the ongoing crisis.
Isolating Ebola patients is critical to slowing the spread of the disease, as sick people can transmit it through their bodily fluids such as blood, sweat or urine. Even as authorities rush to put patients in isolation, the U.N. health agency has warned that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may last another six months. At least 1,145 people have died across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and new figures released on Friday showed that Liberia now has recorded more deaths — 413 — than any of the other affected countries.
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— The Associated Press
