Ebola in Sierra Leone: 3 more districts isolated, one million quarantined

With West African countries still reeling under the immense burden of the Ebola outbreak, Sierra Leone has put a million people in quarantine, that is three more districts that will be under isolation in a bid to halt the spread of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), as per media reports on Thursday. President Ernest Bai Koroma in a nationwide radio and TV broadcast said the government decided to isolate Port Loko and Bombali districts in the north and Moyamba district in the south of the country with immediate effect, which means that nearly a third of the country’s population across 14 districts is now ‘under curfew’, The Guardian said in a report.

These decisions, according to the president, were taken in consultation with all the partners and ‘with our people’s avowed commitment to support the extra measures to end the Ebola outbreak’, Xinhua reported. EVD has claimed nearly 3,000 lives in African countries since early this year. Koroma announced that six chiefdoms each in the Bombali and Port Loko districts and three chiefdoms in the Moyamba district have also been isolated, and that residents in these chiefdoms must not travel to any other chiefdom until further notice.

The government has also set up corridors for travel between non-quarantined districts, with a curfew on all travel from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and curbs on travellers alighting within the quarantined area. Koroma said the isolation would ‘definitely pose great difficulties for our people in these districts, but the life of every one and the survival of our country take precedence over these difficulties.’ He said names of hotspots to be quarantined in the capital city Freetown and three other districts in the country would be announced later.

Here are some preventive measures for people who cannot avoid traveling.

• If you’re taking medication for any infectious diseases and if you’re currently suffering from viral flu, you should avoid traveling before complete recovery. When you’re suffering from an infection, your immunity weakens. This could be a good opportunity for the virus to attack you.


• Older people, young peers and pregnant women should not travel at all. They have a high risk of acquiring infection.

Following precautionary measures for travelers.

• In any case, avoid handling items that you suspect have been contaminated, especially blood or body fluids.


• Avoid contact with other people and avoid visiting hospitals where treatment for Ebola is being given.

With inputs from IANS

Photo source: Getty images

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