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Sierra Leone plans another shutdown to stop Ebola's spread

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ASSOCIATED PRESS by Clarence Roy-Macaulay                                                             March 18, 2015

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone  — Sierra Leone is planning another three-day, countrywide shutdown later this month to ferret out Ebola cases, remind people how to protect themselves from the disease and control its transmission.

The West Africa Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 10,000 people is declining but the disease has remained stubbornly entrenched in parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone. Liberia, the third country severely affected, currently has no Ebola cases.

In the drive to zero cases in Sierra Leone, the government will again ask residents to stay in their homes for three days, Alfred Palo Conteh, head of the country's National Ebola Response Center, said Wednesday. The shutdown is expected to take place March 27 through 29, according to Patrick Fatoma, another official with the Ebola response center.

The government has done this before, and some experts said it was unexpectedly effective in providing information about to control the disease.

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http://news.yahoo.com/sierra-leone-plans-another-shutdown-stop-ebolas-spread-172425887.html

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CNN    by By Ralph Ellis and Radina Gigova                  March 22, 2015

...President Ernest Bai Koroma on Saturday launched a campaign called "Zero Ebola," in which almost all Sierra Leoneans are supposed to stay indoors March 27-29 and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays -- April 4, 11 and 18.

"The campaign will provide an opportunity for communities to be directly involved in the drive to zero cases, to reflect and to pray for the eradication of this disease from our country," he said in a statement.

Sierra Leona tried a three-day lockdown last September in what was primarily an informational campaign, with volunteers going door-to-door to talk with residents about the virus. In August, the Liberian government locked down one of the poorest neighborhoods in the capital of Monrovia in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. The move resulted in riots.

No commercial activity is supposed to occur during the upcoming lockdown, Koroma said. Because March 29 is Palm Sunday, church services will be allowed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Health workers, journalists and public safety officers are exempted.
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http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/21/africa/sierra-leone-lockdown/

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