Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale announced on Wednesday that the last Ebola patient was discharged, with which the country officially began it’s 42-day countdown toward being declared Ebola-free, even as the number of cases recorded in the wider region topped 11,000 since the outbreak began in May.

The country recorded nine Ebola cases in October after the first patient traveled from Congo through Uganda, transmitting the virus to four family members and four healthcare workers. The first patient and his mother died of Ebola, while the other seven patients have fully recovered. The government had identified 135 contacts who had interacted with the first patient. Kenya now begins the 42-day countdown to being declared Ebola-free, provided no new infections are recorded during that period.