Sierra Leone’s Streets Are Deserted as Three-Day Anti-Ebola Lockdown Begins
The streets of Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown were uncharacteristically empty Friday, as the government began a controversial lockdown in an effort to slow the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
Of the 5,335 people infected with Ebola so far during the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, 1,673 are in Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization. That number jumped by more than 200 in just one week, prompting Sierra Leone officials to order the country’s 6 million residents to stay home for three days.
Only law enforcement personnel, security officials and a handful of others deemed “essential” by the government are allowed on the streets during that time — and only with a government-issued pass, as the Guardian reported.
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