President Barack Obama wants to take the fight against Ebola to the source-that is, West Africa. However, he believes that teams are running out of funds. Thus, on Tuesday, December 1, he urged the Congress to approve a spending package deemed to be an emergency.
Obama was in Bethesda, Maryland, for his visit to National Institutes of Health. During his speech, he mentioned that the country should not let its guard down, and comparing the epidemic to an ember, he recommended that the virus should be "extinguished" before it becomes a new fire. Over the last few days, news about Ebola, especially in the United States, has been minimal.
The supposed spending package is valued at $6.18 billion, which will be used to buy more equipment for labs and offer support to clinical trials especially those on vaccines that will hopefully treat or even eliminate the disease.
So far, the United States has been ramping up its facilities designed to accept and treat Ebola patients. For example, the number of beds has been increased from 8 to 53. The government has also identified more than 30 possible treatment facilities around the country.
The call for such urgency may be in light of the possibility that the spending package may not be included in the spending bill for the year end, which is currently being drafted by Congress.
In fact, the need may be so dire that White House has already got in touch with lawmakers who can lobby for it.
Meanwhile, there's a new suspected case of Ebola in Boston, Massachusetts. Although no specifics have been provided yet as to the identity of the patient, the Massachusetts General Hospital confirmed that the patient was confined for further evaluation. The person has also been under close monitoring for the virus.
The hospital stresses that Ebola test is still underway and the case still remains unconfirmed. However, it assures the public that it's ready to deal with the infection if it turns out positive.