Ebola has killed more than 2,000 people in Sierra Leone and unsafe burials may be responsible for up to 70 percent of new infections, say experts.

Many beds are empty at newly opened Ebola treatment units in Liberia’s urban centers because the outbreak is now flaring in more rural parts of the country. In Sierra Leone’s capital, there aren’t enough treatment units as the epidemic spreads there.

Health workers on the front line of the Ebola crisis say the need for urgent help isn’t letting up, as Congress begins considering President Barack Obama’s $6.2 billion emergency aid request to fight the disease.

The rate of new Ebola infections in Liberia appears to be declining and could represent a genuine trend, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, but the epidemic is far from over.