Ebola outbreak: Situation could 'rapidly deteriorate'
Sierra Leone says a nationwide lockdown has revealed that an Ebola outbreak is worse than thought and ordered three more transmission hotspots to be cordoned off.
The government warned that unless more is done, “the situation will rapidly deteriorate”.
President Ernest Bai Koroma has put the Port Loko, Bombali and Moyamba districts under isolation, meaning only people delivering essential services can enter and circulate.
In other areas, including the capital Freetown, homes will be put under quarantine when cases are identified.
Two districts near the outbreak’s epicentre were already under isolation.
The Ebola outbreak is believed to have affected more than 6,200 people in West Africa, according to new figures published by the World Health Organisation, and nearly 3,000 deaths have been linked to the disease.
