Sierra Leone Says Three-day Lockdown to Contain Ebola “Successful”

(PNA/Xinhua) — The authorities in Sierra Leone have described a three-day lockdown to contain the Ebola disease which ended Sunday as “a success.”

Obi Sesay, head of the National Ebola Response Center’s situation room, said the campaign which ordered all the population to stay at home, went well and the authorities were pleased with people’s compliance.

Local reports say that during the lockdown, five Ebola cases were recorded across the country.

Sesay told media that during March 27 to 28, about 84 dead bodies were discovered, most of which are in the western region, but didn’t mention whether they were infected with the Ebola virus.

He said 91 “alert calls” had been recorded, of which 17 cases had the symptom of the Ebola virus and were taken to medical centers to ascertain their status.

The authorities say the main purpose of the lockdown was to isolate “all patients” to curb the spread of the disease.

Since the outbreak of the Ebola disease in Sierra Leone in May last year, almost 3,000 people have died of the epidemic among whom about 200 medical workers. (PNA/Xinhua) RMA/EDS