World Health Organization

The international body declared Uganda Ebola-free after 42 days without any new transmission, though cases are rising in DR Congo.

Uganda has been declared free of Ebola, with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirming that the East African country had passed the mandatory 42-day monitoring period without any new cases.

WHO made the announcement at a joint news conference on Tuesday with Uganda’s Ministry of Health.

But the declaration came roughly a month after Uganda had declared that the local outbreak was over, based on its own analysis of the virus’s spread.

“We had assessed the risk, we had assessed the whole chain of transmission and the dynamics of importation of the virus in the country, and we knew that we were free from Ebola,” Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary for Uganda’s Health Ministry, told national broadcaster NTV.

“However, WHO had to wait because that’s the process. That’s the guideline.”

Atwine called on countries that had imposed travel restrictions on Uganda during the outbreak to lift them.

“Unless they have other reasons, they should definitely lift the restrictions off the country, and Ugandans should be free to travel to any country,” she said.

Uganda reported 20 Ebola infections in total, with its last confirmed case recorded on June 21. Two people died from the virus during the outbreak.

The last patient was discharged from Mulago National Referral Isolation Centre on July 16, and the Health Ministry formally declared the outbreak over on July 28.

The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), by contrast, is accelerating.

Confirmed cases in the DRC reached 5,656 as of August 25, an increase of 72 from a report released one day prior. A total of 2,715 deaths have been recorded, according to the latest government data cited by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Ituri province, in the northeast of the country, remains the epicentre of the outbreak, with more than 4,700 people infected.

Uganda shares a border with the northeast part of the DRC, stretching more than 877km (500 miles).

Kasonde Mwinga, the WHO’s representative for Uganda, said in Wednesday’s news conference that the country was supporting treatment and laboratory capacity at two sites across the border, in Aru and Kasenyi, both part of the Ituri province.

Mwinga added that the model for cross-border collaboration could be expanded regionally.

Already, Uganda has announced it would open two additional Ebola treatment centres in the DRC, bringing the total to four.

On Monday, Ugandan and Congolese officials also met in Kampala to review a bilateral memorandum of understanding on cross-border health security.

Kenneth Akiiri, the undersecretary for Uganda’s Health Ministry, called for the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to mobilise further resources.

“When you are vulnerable and you have littler resources, you are supposed to raise an alarm for help,” Akiiri said in a joint statement.

For his part, DRC delegation head Adelard Lufungula urged strong action to combat the virus. “We want to fight Ebola like a war,” he said.

Jane Hazlegrove, who is best known for playing Bernie Winter on Coronation Street, has launched a rant at a fellow actor and her co-stars have all clamoured to know who she was talking about

Jane Hazlegrove has issued a warning to fellow TV stars about their behaviour on set. The actress, 58, who currently plays Bernie Winter on ITV soap Coronation Street and previously starred as Kathleen ‘Dixie’ Dixon on Casualty, took to Instagram over the weekend to make a statement about professionalism within the industry.

She shared an image of a quote which read: “Booking the role isn’t the end of the interview. How you behave after you’re hired matters too.”

In the caption of her post: “This post makes total sense! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? As my Dad used to say, you are only as good as your last performance! Be nice! And if you can’t be nice… step away… cos people see!”

The actress, who joined the soap in the role of Bernie in 2019 but also appeared in the mid-1980s Sue Clayton and was involved in a storyline with Jack and Vera Duckworth, was inundated with comments from co-stars.

Jack P Shepherd, who plays David Platt in the soap and has appeared on the show since 2000, said: “This isn’t me is it?”

Sally Carman, who plays Abi Webster, quickly joined in as she replied with a string of laughing emojis, but Jane said: “Soz pal you don’t win this one!!! No it’s bloody not!!!” Sue Devaney, who plays Debbie Webster on Coronation Street, left a string of heart emojis.

Loose Women star Sunetra Sarker, who appeared alongside Jane on Casualty when she played Dr Hannah, said: “Never a truer word said ma’am.”

Emmerdale legend Lisa Riley, who first appeared as Mandy Dingle more than 30 years ago and went on to appear in Waterloo Road and compete on Strictly Come Dancing before making a comeback in 2019, left a string of clapping hands emojis in the comments section of the post. Michelle Hardwick, who plays Vanessa Woodfield on Emmerdale, said: “Oh I LOVE this”

But Jane, who has also appeared in other programmes like Heartbeat, Silent Witness and Holby City over the years, quickly pinned a comment to the top of her Instagram post, so she could clear up any confusion.

She said: “Just for clarification this post is NOT about anyone I am currently working with at Coronation Street. It’s a gentle reminder to be kind and professional at all times!”

When Bernie arrived on Coronation Street, she was introduced as the estranged mother of Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) and Paul Foreman (Peter Ash), who was later diagnosed with motor neurone disease and died in late 2024.

Bernie went on to enter into a relationship with local shopkeeper Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) and it was later established that she was the long-lost mother of DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts), who later turned out to be the long-lost father of Brody Michaelis (Ryan Mulvey).

Bernie, who currently works in Roy’s Rolls, went on to marry Dev towards the end of last year but was dealt with further tragedy when events that unfolded in the programme’s crossover with Emmerdale saw a crash claimed the life of her son-in-law, Billy Mayhew.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads.