MONROVIA, Liberia – In two layers of protective gear in humid equatorial heat, the doctor slowly picks his way through the packed ETU – Ebola Treatment Unit -- in one of the main hospitals in Monrovia, Liberia. It’s so full of patients that many are having to lie on the floor. The doctor treads warily: If he trips, his protective suit might rip, exposing him to the deadly virus.
“This thing is out of control; it could potentially de-populate huge sections of the country,” the American doctor, who asked not to be named, told FoxNews.com hours later. “All of the ETUs are at or beyond capacity.”
With the infectious disease ravaging Liberia’s capital, nurses and doctors are in short supply. The World Health Organization says more than 170 have died from the disease, while those who continue the battle face infected facilities and patients who hide their symptoms.
“[Victims] are in denial,” a West African hygienist working at the same facility, JFK Hospital, said. “People ask us to help them, they say they have a cold, they say it’s not necessary to wear special clothing, they deny it is Ebola. We have lost our families, our friends. They are infecting our nurses, our doctors – they are all gone.”
