WHO Says DRC Ebola Response Needs 1,600 More Beds and 5,000 More Health Workers

At a press briefing in Geneva on 8 September 2026, WHO senior technical officer Luca Fontana said the Ebola response in DRC has built close to 1,400 treatment beds across 59 treatment centers since the outbreak's declaration — more than 900 of them within the first two months — but still needs roughly 1,600 additional beds to reach a 3,000-bed target capacity. Fontana said nearly 4,000 healthcare workers are currently deployed inside treatment centers, and that reaching full staffing for 3,000 beds at a ratio of three staff per patient would require training 9,000 workers in total, leaving a gap of about 5,000 more health workers. He described a shortage of trained staff, operational partners and funding as a bottleneck constraining the response as the outbreak continues to spread geographically. The WHO cited official Congolese figures putting the toll at more than 6,600 confirmed cases and 3,175 deaths since the 15 May declaration, across six provinces in DRC's conflict-affected east and northeast.