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Premier Kathleen Wynne announced this morning that Ontario will be donating $3 million to help those on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Wynne says $1 million will go to Doctors Without Borders, and the other $2 million will go to the Red Cross. She says it’s important to support those who best understand what is needed to stop the spread of Ebola.
“As you know the current outbreak is the largest since the Ebola outbreak was discovered in 1976, and to bring it under control takes a massive effort and it takes a collective effort and that’s exactly why we are working at home, and we are part of the international effort.”
Wynne is asking the people of Ontario to match the government’s donation. This major announcement comes just days after the Liberal government released its plan to treat potential Ebola patients here in Ontario.
The entire country has been preparing in case the disease ever comes to Canada. The public health agency held drills for some of its rapid response teams over the weekend in Halifax.
The team carried out exercises to see how fast they could assemble medical equipment and load it onto one of four aircraft the government has set aside for Ebola emergencies. In the event of an Ebola case one of five teams would be deployed to help prevent any spread.
A number of people in Canada have been tested for Ebola-like symptoms, but all have come back negative.
Also on the Ebola front:
Texas hospital sorry for handling of Ebola
The Texas hospital at the center of the U.S. Ebola outbreak is apologizing for the way it handled the crisis. In a letter to the community, the CEO of Texas Health Resources, acknowledged the hospital’s “mistakes in handling this very difficult challenge.”
Last month Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital misdiagnosed Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola case in the United States. He died of the disease on October 8.
The hospital says it is “deeply sorry” for the misdiagnosis and promised that it “learned” from the incident.
Nigeria declared Ebola-free
The World Health Organization says Nigeria is officially free of Ebola, after 6 weeks with no new cases. Nigeria won praise for its swift response after a Liberian diplomat brought the disease there in July.
The outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa – mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. An estimated 70 per cent of those infected have died in those countries.
The WHO officially declared Senegal Ebola-free on Friday.
