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A police officer guards outside a home, rear, that
have been placed under a twenty one day Ebola virus quarantine period as Sierra
Leone enters the second day of a three day country wide lockdown on movement of
people due to the Ebola virus in the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Saturday,
March 28, 2015. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)
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Guinea has deployed security forces to the
country's southwest in response to reports that Sierra Leoneans are crossing
the border to flee an Ebola lockdown intended to stamp out the deadly disease,
an official said Saturday.
The deployment, led by the head of the national
gendarmerie, was sent late Friday night to the town of Forecariah, said
gendarmerie spokesman Mamadou Alpha Barry, adding that the area is
"secure."
AP reports:
Residents reported tension in the region
resulting from a large influx of Sierra Leoneans in the days leading up to the
lockdown, which went into effect on Friday and ends Sunday.
"We revolted against a massive arrival of
Sierra Leoneans along the border as the Sierra Leonean authorities announced
the lockdown," said Forecariah resident Mamadou Kolibe.
"Why would they leave their country if
they didn't have Ebola?" Kolibe added. "We are opposed to their
arrival and that has caused a stir here."
The southwest region of Guinea borders northern
districts of Sierra Leone that are focus areas for the lockdown operation.
In Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, officials
reported that most people stayed in their homes on Friday and Saturday, with
the exception of teams looking for possible cases and Muslims heading to
mosques on Friday. The lockdown does not apply to people attending religious
services.
Sierra Leone conducted a similar nationwide
operation last September when transmission rates were much higher. Ebola has
infected nearly 12,000 people in Sierra Leone, more than any other country, but
the latest weekly total of 33 confirmed cases is the lowest since last June.
While the previous lockdown included a large
public education component, this time around most people are well aware of the
danger posed by Ebola, meaning teams can focus on identifying patients, said
Samuel Turay, an evaluation officer with Sierra Leone's National Ebola Response
Center.
"I'm sure that after
this we will have total control over the virus," he said.
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