Ebola lockdown in Sierrra Leone uncovers 150 new cases

September 22

18:18 2014

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The Sierra Leone lockdown for the discovery and control of Ebola has been declared a success, having revealed more than 150 cases.

The head of the emergency operations centre leading Sierra Leone’s Ebola response, Stephen Gaojia, called the lockdown “a huge success”.

As at the second day, Gaojia said over 92 bodies have been recovered across the nation.

The health workers who went on the awareness and discovery house-to-house visit found almost 100 victims who perished from the disease and another 56 who have been infected, Time reports.

The lockdown was an initiative of the Sierra Leonian government to curb the spread of the disease.

Although the idea was criticised in many quarters, it saw 30, 000 volunteers go from house to house, enlightening the people and finding out persons been struck by the deadly virus.

Though not all the houses were covered, the government believes the lockdown was successful and has suggested more could be held in the days to come.

Health Minister Abubakkarr Fofanah told AFP that volunteers were able to reach about 80 per cent of the homes.

“Although this campaign has ended, there is a possibility we would have a similar one some other time,” he added.

Meanwhile, the World health organisation (WHO) has hailed Nigeria and Senegal for “pretty much containing” the disease.