WHO said on Thursday it was scaling up testing in Congo in partnership with the country’s national medical research organisation.

MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo said it had shipped just under five tonnes of medical cargo to Ituri on Thursday, the latest in a series of flights to deliver supplies.    

However, three humanitarian officials involved in the Ebola response in Congo said that continued restrictions on flights in and out of Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, were hampering operations.

One humanitarian official said that despite promising to grant ad hoc exemptions for aid workers the ministry of transport was not processing them.

The Congolese government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on flight restrictions.

CONTAINMENT MEASURES   

In a bid to curb the spread, countries across the world have rolled out travel-related containment measures.

The United States has temporarily banned the entry of green card holders who have been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days.

The US government, which has said it “cannot and will not allow” any cases of Ebola to enter the country, is hoping Kenya will host a facility there to quarantine American citizens who become exposed to the disease. It was not clear on Thursday if Kenya would agree to the request.

Eastern Congo is awash with armed groups, further complicating the response, including in North and South Kivu provinces, which are partially controlled by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.

Tedros has called for a ceasefire in the area in order to contain the Ebola outbreak, saying that ongoing fighting was driving mass displacement and spreading the disease in overcrowded camps.