People in west African nation barred from leaving their homes on 18-21 September to 'deal with Ebola once and for all'
Sierra Leone will impose a four-day nationwide "lockdown" this month in a bid to contain the spread of the biggest ever outbreak of Ebola.
From 18 to 21 September people across the west African nation will not be allowed to leave their homes, a senior official in the president's office said on Friday.
The move is intended to allow health workers to identify and isolate new cases to prevent the disease from spreading further, said Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, a presidential adviser on the country's Ebola task force.
"The aggressive approach is necessary to deal with the spread of Ebola once and for all," he said.
So far, more than 3,000 people have been infected in west Africa, with almost 2,100 deaths from the virus recorded in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria since March, according to UN figures. As of Friday, Sierra Leone has recorded 491 deaths. Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that there could be another 20,000 cases before the Ebola outbreak is stopped.
The WHO announced on Friday that health workers could be given vaccines from November, when safety tests are completed.
More than 20 infected health workers have died in Sierra Leone since the start of the outbreak in March.
Kargbo said 21,000 people would be recruited to enforce the lockdown. Thousands of police officers and soldiers have already been deployed to enforce the quarantining of towns in Sierra Leone's worst-hit regions, near the border with Guinea.
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Sounds like a brilliant plan...