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Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone lockdown declared 'success'
Streets in the capital Freetown have been largely deserted during the three-day lockdown
A three-day curfew aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone has been declared a success by authorities.
The wide-ranging curfew ended at midnight on Sunday (GMT) and will not be extended, authorities said.
Sierra Leone has been one of the countries worst affected by the outbreak, with more than 550 of the almost 2,800 deaths so far recorded.
Some health groups have criticised the lockdown, saying it would destroy trust between patients and doctors.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the situations in Senegal and Nigeria have been "pretty much contained", reports the Reuters news agency.
Nearly all of the deaths in the world's worst Ebola outbreak have been recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The deadly virus is transmitted through sweat, blood and saliva, and there is no proven cure.
A Spanish priest who contracted the virus whilst working in Sierra Leone was flown back to Spain for treatment- Liberia, the country that has been worst hit by the outbreak, has announced a four-fold increase in the number of beds for Ebola patients
- Schools in Nigeria are reopening on Monday, after the summer break was extended for fear of the spread of Ebola, but teaching unions say preventative measures are not in place
- A Spanish priest who was diagnosed with the virus whilst working in Sierra Leone was flown back to a military airbase in Spain on Monday for treatment in a Spanish hospital
- A second deployment of US troops arrived in Liberia on Sunday as part of a mission that will see 3,000 soldiers helping the Liberian health services in their response to the outbreak
The head of Sierra Leone's Emergency Operations Centre Stephen Gaojia told the BBC that the lockdown exercise was largely successful, and that the compliance and receptiveness of Sierra Leoneans was "overwhelming".
He said 130 new cases had been confirmed, while results were still outstanding on 39 suspected cases.
Health officials say that had these cases not been discovered, they would have helped spread the virus.
In the capital Freetown, residents emerged from their houses to celebrate in the streets just before the official end of the lockdown.
Police roadblocks were set up in Sierra Leone to enforce the curfew
The curfew in Sierra Leone came into force on Friday morning, with most of the country's six million inhabitants confined to their homes.
Around 30,000 medical volunteers travelled to affected neighbourhoods to find patients and distribute soap.
Normally bustling streets in the capital Freetown were deserted from Friday onwards
Spanish priest Manuel Garcia Viejo (l) was working at a hospital in Lunsar, Sierra Leone, before becoming infected
Earlier, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Sarian Kamara said between 60 and 70 Ebola victims had been buried in the past two days.
Bodies of Ebola victims are highly contagious and their swift burial is considered key to containing the disease.
The three-day curfew is the most aggressive measure taken against the virus yet by a West African country.
Continue reading the main storyWest Africa Ebola casualties
Up to 14 September
2,630
Ebola deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected
- 1,459 Liberia
- 601 Guinea
- 562 Sierra Leone
- 8 Nigeria
Getty
Liberia on Sunday said it would increase from 250 to 1,000 its beds for Ebola patients in the capital Monrovia.
Information Minister Lewis Brown told AFP news agency that patients were currently being rejected due to lack of space.
"So the government is trying its best to finish the 1,000 beds so we can accommodate all the patients," he added.
It follows a warning from the WHO about a huge expected spike in infections in Liberia, which has accounted for more than half the deaths so far.
School closure plea
In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, the National Union of Teachers said that schools without adequate safety measures to prevent the spread of Ebola should remain closed despite the start of the new term.
President Goodluck Jonathan dismissed the call for a postponement.
Eight people have died in Nigeria out of 20 who have contracted the disease, but no new cases have been discovered for 10 days.
Schools in Lagos and Rivers states, which have seen all of the Nigerian cases so far will not reopen, while Kano state has postponed resumption until they receive Ebola prevention equipment.
- Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
- Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva
- Current outbreak has mortality rate of about 55%
- Incubation period is two to 21 days
- There is no proven vaccine or cure
- Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
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