a sharp rise in cases in these areas was also noted by who. as of late september, about 2 million people were in areas of restricted travel, which included kailahun, kenema, bombali, tonkolili, and port loko districts. the number of cases seemed to be doubling every 20 days, which led to the estimate that by january 2015 the number of cases in liberia and sierra leone could grow to 1.4 million. on 25 september, there were 1940 cases and 587 deaths officially, however, many acknowledged under-reporting and there was an increasing number of cases in freetown (the capital of sierra leone). who estimated on 21 september, that sierra leone's capacity to treat ebola cases fell short by the equivalent of 532 beds. there were reports that political interference and administrative incompetence had hindered the flow of medical supplies into the country. october 2014: responders overwhelmed a road from kenema to kailahun district by 2 october 2014, an estimated 5 people per hour were being infected with the ebola virus in sierra leone. by this time it was estimated the number of infected had been doubling every 20 days. on 4 october, sierra leone recorded 121 fatalities, the largest number in a single day. on 8 october, sierra leone burial crews went on strike. on 12 october, it was reported that the uk would begin providing military support to sierra leone in addition to a major uk civilian operation in support of the government of sierra leone. in october, it was noted hospitals were running out of supplies in sierra leone. there were reports that political interference and administrative incompetence hindered the flow of medical supplies into the country. in the week prior to 2 october there were 765 new cases, and ebola was spreading rapidly. at the start of october, there were nearly 2200 laboratory confirmed cases of ebola and over 600 had died from it. the epidemic also had claimed the life of 4 doctors and at least 60 nurses by the end of september 2014. sierra leone limited its reported deaths to laboratory confirmed cases in facilities, so the actual number of losses was known to be higher. sierra leone was considering making reduced care clinics, to stop those sick with ebola from getting their families sick with the disease and to provide something in between home-care and the full-care clinics. these "isolation centers" would provide an alternative to the overwhelmed clinics. the problem the country was facing was 726 new ebola cases but less than 330 beds available. more than 160 additional medical personnel from cuba arrived in early october, building on about 60 that had been there since september. at that time there were about 327 beds for patients in sierra leone. canada announced it was sending a 2nd mobile lab and more staff to sierra leone on 4 october 2014. there were reports of drunken grave-diggers making graves for ebola patients too shallow, and as a result wildlife came and dug up and ate at the corpses. in addition, in some cases bodies were not buried for days, because no one came to collect them. one problem was that it was hard to care for local health care workers, and there was not enough money to evacuate them. meanwhile, other diseases like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea were not being treated properly because the health system was trying to deal with ebola patients. on 7 october 2014, canada sent a c-130 loaded with 128,000 face shields to freetown. in early october 2014, a burial team leader said there were piles of corpses south of freetown. on 9 october, the international charter on space and major disasters was activated on sierra leone's behalf, the first time that its charitably repurposed satellite imaging assets had been deployed in an epidemiological role. on 14 october 2014, 800 sierra leone peacekeepers due to relieve a contingent deployed in somalia, were placed under quarantine when one of the soldiers tested positive for ebola. the last district in sierra leone untouched by the ebola virus declared ebola cases. according to abdul sesay, a local health official, 15 suspected deaths with 2 confirmed cases of the deadly disease were reported on 16 october, in the village of fakonya. the village is 60 miles from the town of kabala in the center of the mountainous region of the koinadugu district. this was the last district free from the virus in sierra leone. all of the districts in this country had then confirmed cases of ebola. the royal navy's argus in late october 2014, the united kingdom sent one of their hospital ships, the royal navy's argus, to help sierra leone. by late october sierra leone was experiencing more than twenty deaths a day from ebola. in october 2014, officials reported that very few pregnant women were surviving ebola disease. in previous outbreaks pregnant women were noted to have a higher rate of death with ebola. officials struggled to maintain order in one town after a medical team trying to take a blood sample from a corpse were blocked by an angry machete-wielding mob. they allegedly believed the person had died from high-blood pressure and did not want the body being tested for ebola. when security forces tried to defend the medical team, a riot ensued leaving two dead. the town was placed on a 24-hour curfew and authorities tried to calm the situation down. despite this several buildings were attacked. on 30 october, the ship argus arrived in sierra leone. it carried 32 off-road vehicles to support ebola treatment units. the ship also carried three transport helicopters to support operations against the epidemic. by the end of october 2014 there were over 5200 laboratory confirmed cases of ebola virus disease in sierra leone. ebola outbreak in west africa – outbreak distribution map as of 29 october 2014 on 31 october 2014, an ambulance driver in bo district died of ebola. his ambulance picked up ebola patients (or suspected ebola cases) and took them to treatment centers. november 2014: continuing struggle on 1 november, the united kingdom announced plans to build three more ebola laboratories in sierra leone. the labs helped to determine if a patient had been infected by the ebola virus. at that time, it took as much as five days to test a sample because of the volume of samples that needed to be tested. on 2 november, a person with ebola employed by the united nations was evacuated from sierra leone to france for treatment. on 4 november, it was reported that thousands violated quarantine in search for food, in the town of kenema. on 6 november, it was reported that the situation was "getting worse" due to "intense transmission" in freetown as a contributing factor; the capital city reported 115 cases in the previous week alone. food shortages and aggressive quarantines were reported to be making the situation worse, according to the disaster emergency committee. sierra leone established call centers in port loko and kambia, according to mssl communications as reported on 21 november; this was in addition to the june hotline originally established. on 12 november, more than 400 health workers went on strike over salary issues at one of the few ebola treatment centers in the country. on 18 november, the supply ship karel doorman of the royal netherlands navy (koninklijke marine) arrived in freetown, with supplies. its captain-commander, peter van den berg, took steps to reduce the chance of the crew contracting ebola virus disease. the neini chiefdom in koinadugu district was subject to isolation after ebola cases. on 19 november, it was reported that the ebola virus was spreading intensely; "much of this was driven by intense transmission in the country's west and north", the who said. ebola treatment centre built by the uk in kerry town in 2014 a british-built ebola treatment centre which started in kerry town during november, generated some controversy because of its initially limited capacity. however, this was because they were following guidelines of how to safely open an ebola treatment unit. this was the first of six planned treatment centres which, when completed, would be staffed by a number of ngos. in mid-november the who reported that while all cases and deaths continued to be under-reported, "there is some evidence that case incidence is no longer increasing nationally in guinea and liberia, but steep increases persist in sierra leone". on 19 november, it was reported that the ebola virus was spreading intensely; "much of this was driven by intense transmission in the country's west and north", the who said. the first cuban doctor to be infected with the virus was flown to geneva. on 26 november, it was reported that due to sierra leone's increased ebola transmission, the country would surpass liberia in the total cases count. on 27 november, canada announced it would deploy military health staff to the infected region. on 29 november, the president of sierra leone canceled a planned three-day shutdown in freetown to curb the virus. december 2014 a situation map of sierra leone and surrounding nations showing the districts with reported cases of ebola, as of 17 december 2014 on 2 december, it was reported that the tonkolili district had begun a two-week lockdown, "which was agreed in a key stakeholders meeting of cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and paramount chiefs of the district as part of efforts to stem the spread of the disease", according to a ministry spokesman. the move meant that a total of six districts, containing more than half of the population, were locked down. sierra leone indicated, in a report on 5 december, that about 100 cases of the virus were now being reported daily. on the same day, it was further reported that families caught taking part in burial washing rituals, which can spread the virus, would be taken to jail. on 6 december, a report indicated that the canadian armed forces would send a medical team to the country of sierra leone to help combat the ebola virus epidemic. on 8 december, the doctors in sierra leone went on strike, demanding better treatment for health care workers, according to health ministry spokesman jonathan abass kamara. on 9 december, sierra leone authorities placed the eastern kono district in a two-week lock-down following the alarming rate of infection and deaths there. the lock down lasted until 23 december. this followed the grim discovery of bodies piling up in the district. the who reported fear of a major breakout in the area. the district with 350,000 inhabitants buried 87 bodies in 11 days, with 25 patients dying in 5 days before the who arrived. on 12 december, sierra leone banned all public festivities for christmas or new year, because of the outbreak. on 13 december, it was reported that the first australian facility had been opened; "operations will be gradually scaled up to full capacity at 100 beds under strict guidelines to ensure infection control procedures are working effectively and trained staff ... are in place", one source indicated. médecins sans frontières/doctors without borders, in partnership with the ministry of health, carried out during december the largest-ever distribution of antimalarials in sierra leone. teams distributed 1.5 million antimalarial treatments in freetown and surrounding districts with the aim of protecting people from malaria during the disease's peak season. a spokesman said "in the context of ebola, malaria is a major concern, because people who are sick with malaria have the same symptoms as people sick with ebola. as a result, most people turn up at ebola treatment centres thinking that they have ebola, when actually they have malaria. it's a huge load on the system, as well as being a huge stress on patients and their families." between 14 and 17 december sierra leone reported 403 new cases with a total of 8,759 cases on the latter date. on 25 december, sierra leone put the north area of the country on lockdown. by the end of december sierra leone again reported a surge in numbers, with 9,446 cases reported. on 29 december 2014, pauline cafferkey, a british aid worker who had just returned to glasgow from working at the treatment centre in kerry town, was diagnosed with ebola at glasgow's gartnavel general hospital. 2015: outbreak continues january 2015 on 4 january,