Did you hear??? The number of Ebola Virus Disease cases has fallen in Sierra Leone.

That’s good news… welcome news… But, by all indications, there’s a long, long way to go.

Here’s some interesting tidbits of information from an UNMEER report of January 12-18, 2015.

In Sierra Leone World Food Program (WFP) is supporting 102 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) health facilities including treatment centers, holding centers, and Community Care Centers (CCC).

Between 7th-19th January, 19,673 Ebola Response Workers (ERWs) were paid through mobile money. Of these, 96% have cash-out their pay.

The U.K. is supporting a total of 640 operational treatment beds across the country in Community Care Centers (CCCs) and Ebola Treatment Centers (ETCs).

Many businesses are reporting an average of 40% drop in revenue since July/August, according to a new World Bank study.

The Western Area (which includes the capital, Freetown) represented 40% (10% decrease from last week’s reporting period) of confirmed cases in this reporting period.

Each of these health facilities is to be managed and staffed by Foreign Medical Teams (FMTs, composed of 25-35 clinical and infectious disease experts) as well as national staff (200-250 required per facility).

The number of Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs) remains the same as the previous reporting period. 23 ETCs are operational with approximately 1,174 current available beds, and total bed capacity of 1,693. There are 3 ETCs in the Eastern province, 2 in the Southern province, 6 in the Northern province and 12 in the western province. They are run by the MoHS, U.K, Médecins Sans Frontières, Save the Children, China, IFRC, Plan International, GOAL, Partners in Health, and other partners.

As of 11th January, there are 52 operational CCCs with approximately 528 current available beds, and total bed capacity of 530.

Since 17 November, UNICEF-supported CCCs have triaged 1,541 patients and admitted 237 patients across 5 districts. The number of patients triaged at UNICEF-supported CCCs has increased by more than 50% since early December. Furthermore, the most recent data demonstrates a 37% increase in the number of patients seeking care less than 48 hours after the onset of symptoms.

Movements of EVD-suspected people across districts and chiefdoms are impeding effective surveillance.

13 laboratories nationwide are operating with a total capacity of approximately 200-700 samples per day. There are 6 laboratories in Western Area, 3 in Northern Province, and 2 each in Eastern and Southern provinces. The US CDC, South Africa, Italy, Nigeria, Canada, UK, Netherland and China run these laboratories.

There are currently 125 burial teams operational in the country, conducting more than 190 EVD-confirmed or suspected burials/day. At a national level, Sierra Leone has sufficient capacity to safely bury all reported deaths. However, under-reporting of deaths during the outbreak impede 100% of safe and dignified burials.

Unsafe burials, including the washing of dead bodies, late reporting and lack of isolation continue to be the major factors in the high rates of transmission across the country, especially in Freetown and in rural areas.

Reporting from districts continues to remain a challenge. Half of the districts continue to fail to report their activities/reach to the pillar, impeding coordination and monitoring.

Observational Interim Care Centres (OICCs) are to be placed in each district (14) for children who have been in contact with an EVD-infected person so they can be closely monitored for 21 days.

There are 13 functioning OICCs covering 12 districts with a total capacity of 262 beds across the country. The OICC provide care for contact children with no caregivers. For the week 8th–12th January, 86 contact children were at the OICCs: Port Loko district with 22 children, Bo district with 21 children, Kono district with 17 children, followed by Moyamba and Bombali each with 7 children, and Kenema and Western Urban with 6 children. Cumulatively 193 children have been admitted in OICCs so far. These OICCs are managed by MSWGCA and supported by the UNICEF

MSWGCA/UNICEF and partners documented 492 additional children during the period 1st–12th January as being affected by the Ebola Virus Disease. Of this number, 421 children (199 boys and 222 girls) are in quarantine in their homes as a result of exposure to an infected person. Eighteen were confirmed to be Ebola positive (9 boys and 9 girls).

The cumulative number of children documented by UNICEF through the Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) network is 15,258 (7,594 boys and 7,664 girls) of which 7,968 (3,985 boys / 3,983 girls) have lost one or both parents and 552 (253 boys / 299 girls) are unaccompanied.

Strikes and tensions continue to be reported across the country due to lack of clarity and harmonization on payments and incentives. Better communication on cash payments needs to be established with targeted workers so they know what to expect, when to expect it and how to submit questions and/or complaints. Additionally, monitoring mechanisms need to be reinforced to avoid double payments and ghost workers. Hazard pay system needs to be monitored to ensure accessibility and transparency across the country.