Sierra Leone orders new anti-Ebola lockdown
An anti-Ebola billboard in Freetown, Sierra Leone on November 7, 2014. Sierra Leone's capital Freetown has suffered a fresh outbreak of Ebola, dashing hopes that health authorities in the densely-populated city of 1.2 million had beaten the deadly epidemic. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The country’s six million people were to remain indoors from 0600 on Friday to 1800 on Sunday.
- The typically bustling capital Freetown was deserted as the order took effect.
FREETOWN
Sierra Leone imposed a three-day nationwide lockdown Friday for the second time in six months in a bid to prevent a resurgence of the deadly Ebola virus.
The country’s six million people, with the exception of health workers, were to remain indoors from 0600 on Friday to 1800 on Sunday on orders from President Ernest Bai Koroma.
The typically bustling capital Freetown was deserted as the order took effect, with markets, businesses, banks and office buildings shuttered. The only vehicles seen on the streets were driven by healthcare workers.
The lockdown was called over fears the disease that has killed about 3,700 out of 11,800 people infected in Sierra Leone was making a comeback in certain parts of the country.
It was disquieting news after World Health Organisation officials declared in January the epidemic was finally declining in west Africa after sparking a global health scare.
Following the outbreak in December 2013 in neighbouring Guinea, the disease spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, which have together seen over 10,300 deaths since.
