to tackle the worst ever outbreak of Ebola and will call
in security forces to quarantine epicentres of the
deadly virus, President Ernest Bai Koroma said in a
statement.
The measures resembled a tough anti-Ebola package
announced by neighbouring Liberia on Wednesday
evening. Koroma announced he was cancelling a visit to
Washington for a U.S.-Africa summit next week because
of the crisis and would instead hold an emergency
meeting with regional leaders in Guinea on Friday.
Highly infectious Ebola has been blamed for 672 deaths
in the West Africa nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra
Leone, according to the World Health Organization.
"I hereby proclaim a State of Public Emergency to
enable us take a more robust approach to deal with the
Ebola outbreak," he said in a speech late on
Wednesday, adding that the measures would initially
last between 60 and 90 days. "All epicenters of the
disease will be quarantined."
Koroma said that the police and the military would
restrict movements to and from epicenters, and would
provide support to health officers and NGOs to do their
work unhindered, following a number of attacks on
healthworkers by local communities.
He said that house-to-house searches would be
implemented to trace Ebola victims and quarantine
them. He also said that new protocols had been
established for passengers arriving and departing Lungi
International Airport outside Freetown, but he did not
provide further details, reports Reuters.
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