Teams that are in charge of burying bodies of deceased Ebola patients in Africa have gone on strike. According to Reuters, teams in two districts of Sierra Leone have gone on strike after not being paid their weekly risk allowance. Specialized teams in protective clothing are require to handle these corpses due to the virus still being active in victims after they have died.
“We have decided to stop working until they pay us our weekly risk allowance,” health worker Tamba Nyandemoh told Reuters. He says the teams have not been paid their weekly salary of $100 in two weeks. Sierra Leone deputy health minister Madina Rahman claims that the workers have been paid for the month of September and are only owed one week’s pay.
Nyandemoh said they bury between 17 to 35 bodies a day. With these health workers being on strike, the Ebola outbreak could worsen in Sierra Leone. There were already 121 recorded deaths and new infections in a single day last week.