Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone ends three-day lockdown
At least 5,000 people have been infected with the deadly disease in West Africa since March. Sierra Leone is the first country to impose a nationwide curfew.
At least 5,000 people have been infected with the deadly disease in West Africa since March. Sierra Leone is the first country to impose a nationwide curfew.
After Sierra Leone鈥檚 three-day Ebola lockdown kept 6 million citizens indoors over the weekend, officials are hailing聽it a 鈥渉uge success.鈥�
During the curfew, 30,000 health workers, volunteers, and teachers went door-to-door to educate residents on the deadly disease. They documented 130 new cases of the virus, and identified an additional 39 suspected cases, reports Reuters.
Ebola has infected at least 5,000 people聽in West Africa since March. Some officials estimate the actual number of infections could be two or three times that number, however, as many people are suspicious of health officials and could be staying home instead of seeking medical care, as authorities have demanded.
Sierra Leone Health Minister Abubakarr Fofanah said volunteers were able to reach about 80 percent of the nation鈥檚 homes, reports Agence France-Presse. He said a similar lockdown could take place at 鈥渟ome other time,鈥� and said a reduction of night burials 鈥� where families inter loved ones in secret 鈥� was one of the successes of the campaign. The swift burial of Ebola victims is considered key to containing its spread.
The end of the emergency lockdown was marked by singing and dancing in the streets of the capital of Freetown on Sunday night, reports The Independent.
Some international aid groups have questioned the effectiveness of mandatory home confinement.聽As the disease has spread, so has distrust for medical professionals and Western aid workers; some communities have been blocking medical access or attacking doctors. Some feared a lockdown would only exacerbate suspicion for medics.
The New York Times reported from Guinea earlier this summer that, 鈥淗ealth workers here say they are now battling two enemies: the unprecedented Ebola epidemic 鈥� and fear, which has produced growing hostility toward outside help.鈥�
The challenges of educating populations about the disease and how it spreads 鈥� through direct contact with bodily fluids 鈥� are compounded by the shortage of trained volunteers and health professionals working in West Africa. The international community and local nations also face difficulty in agreeing on how to treat and curtail the spread of the virus.
Furthermore, the nations hardest hit 鈥� Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone 鈥� already had a shortage of health workers prior to the outbreak. 海角大神 reports:
Sierra Leone isn鈥檛 the first country to attempt a lockdown, though its was the most extreme thus far. In August, neighboring Liberia quarantined the entire slum of West Point in the capital, Monrovia. The military-enforced barricade led to riots and was criticized for creating conditions ideal for the spread of Ebola. Food prices doubled and residents paid police bribes to sneak in and out of the impoverished community. The quarantine was lifted after 10 days amid international criticism. 聽