Liberia in countdown to being ebola-free

Liberia has released its last ebola patient from a treatment centre in the capital Monrovia, beginning its countdown to being declared ebola-free.

“I am one of the happiest human beings today on Earth because it was not easy going through this situation and coming out alive,” Beatrice Yardolo said after her release.

The 58-year-old English teacher kept thanking God and the health workers at the centre.

Ms Yardolo said she had been admitted to the Chinese-run ebola treatment centre in the Paynesville district of Monrovia on February 18.

A mother of five, she is originally from the county of Nimba near the borders with Guinea and Ivory Coast, but lives in Monrovia where she teaches at a church-run school.

The St Paul’s Bridge community where she resides and teaches had become the last “hotspot” for ebola cases in Monrovia, according to Tolbert Nyenswah, assistant health minister and head of the country’s ebola response.

Mr Nyenswah said on Wednesday there were no other confirmed cases of ebola in the country, and as such Liberia can begin to count up to 42 days to be declared ebola-free in keeping with World Health Organisation protocols.