Ebola Outbreak: Lockdown Enforced in Sierra Leone
Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leon, looked like a ghost town on Friday, according to reports.
Sierra Leone government is enforcing a nationwide three-day lockdown in a desperate attempt to limit the spread of Ebola.
This is the second time the West African country has enforced a countrywide lockdown, asking its population of more than six million people to stay home.
Although a previous lockdown in September 2014 was hailed as a success by the government, it was criticized by the medical aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which argued that the quarantine would force the sick victims underground, instead of helping to contain the virus.
“The Ebola outbreak has been the largest, longest, most severe, and most complex in human history. Starting from the initial detection of the outbreak, to the arrival of the first responders, to the overwhelming spread of cases in West Africa — The Ebola Diaries is a series of first-person accounts describing what it has been like working on the front lines of a global health crisis of unprecedented proportion,” said WHO.
WHO released the EBOLA situation summary on March 26, 2015 (latest), which includes the total number of reported cases and deaths (confirmed, probable and suspected) for the high transmission countries (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone).
- Guinea: 3,459 cases, with 2,273 deaths [As of March 24, 2015]
- Liberia: 9,602 cases, with 4,301 deaths [As of March 22, 2015]
- Sierra Leone: 11,866 cases, with 3,764 deaths [As of March 24, 2015]
Sub total: 24,927 cases, with 10,339 fatalities
In addition to the above, 8 Ebola deaths were reported in Nigeria, 6 in Mali and 1 in the U.S., bringing the total number of reported deaths since the start of the latest epidemic to 10,354.
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