Sierra Leone orders to quarantine more than one million people
26 Sept 2014 6:00 AM IST
President Ernest Bai Koroma, in a national televised address late Wednesday, announced that the northern districts of Port Loko and Bombali were to be closed off along with the southern district of Moyamba, effectively sealing off around 1.2 million people.
With the eastern districts of Kenema and Kailahun already under quarantine, more than a third of the population of six million, in five of the nation’s 14 districts, now finds itself unable to move freely.
‘The isolation of districts and chiefdoms will definitely pose great difficulty but the lives of everyone and the survival of our country takes precedence over these difficulties,’ Mr Koroma said.‘These are trying moments for everyone in the country.’ The deadliest Ebola epidemic on record has infected almost 6,000 people in west Africa and killed nearly half of them, according to the World Health Organization’s latest figures.
In Sierra Leone, Ebola has infected 1,813 people, killing 593, by the WHO count.
With the eastern districts of Kenema and Kailahun already under quarantine, more than a third of the population of six million, in five of the nation’s 14 districts, now finds itself unable to move freely.
‘The isolation of districts and chiefdoms will definitely pose great difficulty but the lives of everyone and the survival of our country takes precedence over these difficulties,’ Mr Koroma said.‘These are trying moments for everyone in the country.’ The deadliest Ebola epidemic on record has infected almost 6,000 people in west Africa and killed nearly half of them, according to the World Health Organization’s latest figures.
In Sierra Leone, Ebola has infected 1,813 people, killing 593, by the WHO count.
Next Story
