News

Actions

Do you find this Halloween costume insensitive during Ebola outbreak?

Posted at 2:18 PM, Oct 15, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-15 14:18:40-04

ARLINGTON, Va. — With Halloween fast approaching, stores are busy stocking up on the latest scary costumes. And popular this year – ‘Hazmat’ suits, respirators and gas masks. The costumes were originally inspired by the hit television series ‘Breaking Bad,’ but to some it is a reminder of the on-going Ebola scare.

“I personally don’t mind,” Monika Jachowicz said. “I think on Halloween people just want to have a good time. I don’t see any harm in that.”

But in Dallas, where a second person was diagnosed as having the disease, people call the costume insensitive.

“I really don’t think people are thinking about that. I don’t think they’re thinking about the families and the victims,” Texas resident Mikhael Gilmore said.

So far, more than 4,500 people have lost their lives to Ebola worldwide. On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation projected the pace of infections accelerating in West Africa – to as many as 10,000 new cases a week within two months.