Liberia, the West African nation hardest it by Ebola, has begun a frightening descent into economic hell.
That’s the import of three recent reports from international organizations that seem to bear out the worst-case scenarios of months ago: that people would abandon the fields and factories, that food and fuel would become scarce and unaffordable, and that the government’s already meager capacity to help, along with the nation’s prospects for a better future, would be severely compromised.
They are no longer scenarios. They are real. While these trends have been noted anecdotally, the cumulative toll is horrific.
The death toll from the West African Ebola outbreak is at least 3,091,according to the latest figures, which are regarded as signficantly lower than reality because of underreporting. The number of deaths in Liberia, 1,830, is about three times more than either of the other two most affected countries, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
All the countries hit by Ebola are in bad shape, to be sure, but Liberia does indeed appear to be the worst of the lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment