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Freetown
mayor Bode Gibson "shocked and disappointed"
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Sierra
Leone placed hundreds of homes in the capital under Ebola quarantine Friday, in
a huge blow for its recovery less than a month after it lifted all restrictions
on movement. The government said 700 properties had been locked down in
Aberdeen, a fishing and tourist district of Freetown, after the death of a
fisherman who tested positive for the deadly tropical virus, according to AFP.
"We
are on top of the situation and people should not panic," said Obi Sesay
of the government's National Ebola Response Centre, adding that a special
control centre had been set up to deal with the incident.
He
told reporters Aberdeen had been "flooded" with surveillance officers
and contact tracers to ensure the death didn't turn into a serious outbreak.
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One
of many Ebola check points on the way to Port Loko, Sierra Leone
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Freetown
mayor Bode Gibson, who also visited Aberdeen, told reporters he was
"shocked and disappointed" as the case had shattered expectations
that the city was approaching the milestone of zero new cases in its weekly
count.
"The
lifting of the free movement ban was to allow residents to resume trade, not
for them to become complacent and behave irresponsibly to increase the spread
of the disease," he said.
Arouna
Taylor, a resident of Aberdeen, said canoes from Ebola hotspots like Port Loko
further up the coast were docking in the area and bringing the virus with them.
"Boats
are suspected to be bringing sick people at night for treatment in the capital,
so the development has not come as a surprise."
The
West African nation of six million has seen almost 11,000 cases and 3,363 deaths
during the epidemic which has raged in West Africa for more than a year.
President
Ernest Bai Koroma had pointed to a "steady downward trend" in new
cases on January 23, lifting country-wide quarantines affecting half the
population and declaring that "victory is in sight".
But
optimism gave way to fresh alarm on Wednesday as the World Health Organization
(WHO) reported the number of new cases rising across Sierra Leone and
neighbouring Guinea for the second week running.
Transmission remains "widespread" in Sierra Leone, which reported 76 new confirmed cases in the week to February 8, according to the WHO.
Transmission remains "widespread" in Sierra Leone, which reported 76 new confirmed cases in the week to February 8, according to the WHO.
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