Liberians avoid treatment due to cremation rule

AP reports that a Liberian analysis of bed space at Ebola treatment units concludes that of 742 spaces, 351 were occupied and 391 were vacant. It cites Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads the government’s Ebola response. The main problem is the traditional practice of honoring the dead with burial ceremonies. Nyenswah:

For fear of cremation, do not stay home to die… We know cremation is not our culture in our country. But now we have disease, so we have to change the way we used to do business.