Ebola Denial Still A 'Huge Problem,' Despite Few New Cases In Guinea

Published January 23, 2015 at 1:40 PM EST

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A Guinean student gets his temperature checked on January 19, 2015 as he enters at the Oumou Diaby school in the Ratoma area of Conakry as students head back to school after nearly four months of school recess due to the Ebola outbreak. (Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images)

The number of new Ebola cases in Guinea is dropping steadily. According to the World Health Organization, there were a total of 20 confirmed cases this week, down from 45 last week, the lowest number since August of last year.

The government is shooting for zero Ebola cases by mid-March, and schools are back in session for the first time since July of last year.

Still, NPR’s Ofeibea Quist-Arcton tells Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson that there are still pockets of resistance and denial in Guinea where people are performing unsafe burials one year into the outbreak.

Guest

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, correspondent in Africa for NPR. She tweets @ofeibeaq.