Sierra Leone on Friday began a three-day national curfew to gain control over an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 2,600 people in West Africa.
Citizens are being confined to their homes from September 19 to 21, while health workers go from door-to-door to identify and trace Ebola cases and educate people about the deadly virus.
“We need to restrict movement for us all to avoid body contact,” government spokesman Abdulai Baratay said.
The humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) criticised the measure, saying quarantines could prompt people to hide potential Ebola cases and spread the disease further.
“It has been our experience that lockdowns and quarantines do not help control Ebola as they end up driving people underground and jeopardising the trust between people and health providers,” said MSF.
