Freetown, Feb 26 (IANS): The chief executive of Sierra Leone's National Ebola Response Centre has expressed his dismay at the rising number of Ebola cases in the country in the past couple of days.

Addressing the press Wednesday, Pallo Conteh noted that for the past days the rate of infection has risen with the country "recording double digits -- 16, 15 and 14 for three consecutive days this week".

This increase is coming at a time when the country had reached its lowest case numbers of two, four and five in the preceding week.

The CEO attributed the rise to people continuing to flout the laws "with impunity", Xinhua news agency reported.

"We have started seeing an increase in unsafe burial activities, particularly in the western area and other districts in the country," said Conteh.

He mentioned that funeral homes were in the habit of issuing certificates from medical facilities that allow them to embark on unsafe burials.

He warned all districts' medical officers, district Ebola response coordinators, heads of hospitals and other related institutions to desist from issuing certificates that will allow people to embark on unsafe burials.

Pallo Conteh stressed that "we must be 100 percent compliant, we cannot afford one unsafe burial now".

He warned that "anyone who fails to comply will be held personally responsible and face severe consequences".

"Ebola stops with me," he went on noting that "we should all have the confidence, discipline and self respect to say this".

The CEO admonished all his compatriots saying "as we all know, the misguided or deceitful actions of just one person can result in the infection of many people."