Ebola-hit Sierra Leone said on Wednesday it will
extend curfews placed on its worst-affected
communities last month until the deadly virus
has been eradicated.
Operation Northern Push, a drive to end
infections in the northwest, was supposed to last
21 days, and residents of chiefdoms subjected to
night-time lockdowns had been expecting the
restrictions to end on Tuesday
.
Palo Conteh, head of the government’s National
Ebola Response Centre, told reporters in
Freetown however that the 6:00 pm to 6:00 am
lockdowns would continue indefinitely.
“I am pleased to announce that due to the
successes we are seeing in a number of key
areas Operation Northern Push will continue to
run until we get to zero (cases),” he said.
“Curfew times will remain the same and there
will be regular reviews so that we can adapt the
response to meet the requirements as they
change.”
Since Ebola spread to Sierra Leone in May last
year, the government has imposed several local
and nationwide curfews in its fight to contain the
epidemic.
President Ernest Bai Koroma announced in early
June he was imposing the curfew in the worst-
hit parts of the northwestern districts of Kambia
and Port Loko.
They were only areas two areas at the time still
reporting new infections, although the capital
Freetown has since seen its own flare-up.
The worst outbreak in history has seen 27,573
infections in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, of
which 11,246 have been fatal, according to
official data largely deemed to be an
underestimate.
Sierra Leone has seen almost half of the total
caseload, reporting 3,940 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in
June that a retreat of the virus “that was
apparent throughout April and early May has
stalled” in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The weekly case incidence in the two countries
had settled at between 20 and 27 for six
consecutive weeks.
Meanwhile Liberia is experiencing its own new
cluster of cases after going three months with no
new infections.
Health authorities investigating the failure of
Port Loko and Kambia to eradicate Ebola have
blamed herbalists for spreading the virus by
secretly treating the sick.
Health authorities say 1,551 people in the
northwest and in Freetown are confined to their
homes under quarantine restrictions.
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