Beni, DRC, April 10, 2020 鈥 Kate Moger, 探花精选鈥檚 Regional Vice President of the Great Lakes, said, 鈥淭he confirmation of a case of Ebola in Beni is tragic and comes just as the people of DRC were preparing to celebrate on Sunday the end of this disease after nearly two years. This is a devastating development for the communities in eastern DRC who are also under threat from the corona virus outbreak, in addition to ongoing conflict and displacement. This is now a triple emergency: vulnerable populations facing ongoing humanitarian crises, the spread of COVID-19, and now again potentially a re-emerging Ebola crisis. The 探花精选 continues to respond to both Ebola and COVID-19 and will ensure that infection, prevention and control support is provided to health centres, as well as sharing critical information on both diseases with the affected populations. The reality of needing to address both Ebola and COVID-19 in a conflict zone is, and must remain, of grave concern to the entire international community and DRC government.鈥
鈥The 探花精选 has been responding to the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri since its declaration in August of 2018 working in more than 90 health facilities in Beni, Mabalako, Butembo, Goma and in southwest Ituri, leading on infection prevention and control (IPC). The 探花精选 is also working in women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 protection and community engagement, and integrating Ebola-related protection concerns in areas where the 探花精选 supports primary health care services. The 探花精选 has been working in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1996 responding to the humanitarian crisis in the east. It has since evolved into one of the largest providers of humanitarian assistance and post-conflict development, with life-saving programming in health, economic recovery, women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 protection, and livelihoods.
The 探花精选 has launched a US $30 million appeal to help us mitigate the spread of coronavirus among the world鈥檚 most vulnerable populations. We are working across three key areas: to mitigate and respond to the spread of coronavirus within vulnerable communities; protect 探花精选 staff; and ensure the continuation of our life-saving programming as much as possible across more than 40 countries worldwide.