The death toll from the Ebola outbreak affecting five provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 1,521, according to a bulletin released Thursday by the country's health authorities.
As of July 28, the DRC had recorded 3,442 confirmed cases, including 1,521 deaths and 615 recoveries, while 797 patients remained in isolation or were hospitalized, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate stood at 44.2 percent, while 78.3 percent of identified contacts were under monitoring. Response operations are underway across the five affected provinces of Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo.
In Ituri, however, response efforts were disrupted by a strike involving medical workers demanding payment of two months of outstanding wages.
Neighboring Uganda, which declared the end of its Ebola outbreak earlier this week, has continued to provide support to Ituri, including ambulances and laboratory facilities for rapid testing.
On Wednesday, Uganda deployed mobile laboratories staffed by Ugandan medical personnel to Kasenyi, a border town on the shores of Lake Albert in Ituri Province, to facilitate the rapid screening of suspected Ebola cases.
Ebola death toll in DR Congo tops 1,500: official
Ebola death toll in DR Congo tops 1,500: official
Russian President Vladimir Putin has never refused to talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov on Sunday.
Ushakov said negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis should be held in the form of tripartite talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine. There may also be European representatives at the negotiating table, but in the initial stage of negotiations, it must be in the form of Russia, the United States and Ukraine.
He also revealed that Zelensky is sending signals that Ukraine is willing to talk to Putin through different channels.
On the same day, Zelensky said in an interview that he is willing to hold a face-to-face meeting with Putin in Türkiye and hopes that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could use his communication channels with Putin to facilitate this direct negotiation.
Zelensky said the delegations and technical teams could not decide on some issues, and that the two countries' top leaders, who hold decision-making power, could resolve these issues through direct dialogue. He expressed support for holding the meeting in Türkiye and said he valued the communication channel between Erdogan and Putin.
Zelensky stressed that he wants direct talks with Putin himself, because the final decision-making power on relevant matters rests with Putin.
Putin never refused to talk with Zelensky: Russian official
Putin never refused to talk with Zelensky: Russian official
