Less than a month after Sierra Leone lifted its last major quarantine, a village of almost 1,000 people has been placed under lockdown after the death of a 67-year-old woman from Ebola, officials said on Friday.
This latest incident comes five days into a six-week countdown for the country to be officially declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation.
Reports say the quarantine is stricter than previous ones. It includes a curfew in which people will not be allowed to move from one house to another, and soldiers and police have been deployed to keep the quarantine.
The three-week lock-down comes after officials announced on Tuesday that the food trader had died in Sella Kafta village in the northern district of Kambia, on the northern border with Guinea, after being sick for up to 10 days without the authorities’ knowledge.
Kambia chief administrator Alhaji Abu Bangura told the local Africa Independent Radio station that the district was on “high alert” to ensure the virus did not spread.
“Over 970 people are being monitored under quarantine as there is information that they had had some contact with the deceased woman who tested positive after her death,” the district Ebola response office said in a report distributed to reporters.
“From those under quarantine, 48 are considered as high risk and they are in various holding centres in the district and not treatment centres, as none of them have exhibited any signs and symptoms of Ebola.”
The World Health Organisation and Sierra Leone’s health ministry are planning a vaccination programme for those who could have come into contact with the woman.