The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is now killing one person every 30 minutes, making it the fastest-growing on record and on track to become the deadliest. UN humanitarian affairs chief Tom Fletcher delivered the grim news with the kind of bluntness that suggests he's been waiting to say 'I told you so' to the international community.

'Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,' Fletcher said, adding, 'We cannot let the virus outrun our response.' To that end, he announced an additional $30.5 million from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), on top of the $24 million already allocated. Because nothing says 'we're on top of this' like throwing money at a problem after it's already sprinting ahead.

The outbreak, declared on 15 May, has now killed 2,184 people - nearly 47% of those infected. Six of the DRC's 26 provinces have recorded cases, and Uganda has reported 20. The UN's humanitarian office (OCHA) has deployed 20 more staff to the epicentre, but Fletcher hinted that might not be enough. Shocking.

'This is a wake-up call,' Fletcher said, presumably to the international community that has been hitting the snooze button for months. 'We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.'

Starting tomorrow, the World Food Programme (WFP) will extend its hot meal programme to additional Ebola treatment centres in Ituri and other provinces, according to UN spokesperson Daniela Gross. Because nothing says 'compassion' like a hot meal while you're fighting a hemorrhagic fever.

Civilians in North Kivu and South Kivu are simultaneously dealing with Ebola and an ongoing conflict between the Congolese military and Rwanda-backed M23 militia. Because why face one crisis when you can face two? Ituri province remains the heart of the outbreak, with over 3,400 of the more than 4,660 total cases. Across eastern DRC, 2.6 million people are seriously malnourished, more than half in Ituri.

Since the end of May, WFP has provided more than 260,000 hot meals at treatment and isolation centres in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. Following Friday's meeting of the UN's Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Fletcher said the world's largest humanitarian organisations agreed to scale up the global Ebola response. But Gross noted that civilians' needs far outpace the response.

To protect lives, Fletcher said responders must double the number of teams ensuring safe burials, triple treatment capacity, improve contact tracing, and deploy more experienced managers. They also need to keep providing water, hygiene, and healthcare assistance to those affected by both the outbreak and the years-long conflict. Food insecurity assistance is only 25% funded, because why fund the thing that keeps people alive?

'The world needs to wake up and show up,' Fletcher said. We'll take that as a no on the alarm clock.