Sierra Leone’s government was forced to issue a statement on
Tuesday denying that Ebola had been defeated, after hundreds to took to the
streets in provinical towns to celebrate what they thought was the end of the
epidemic.
Witnesses reported crowds surging into the streets of the
northern commercial hub of Makeni, chanting “Ebola is no more” and “Ebola has
been defeated”.
Locals said celebrations began late on Monday when a group of
suspected Ebola victims were released from a holding centre with negative lab
test results.
“This was misinterpreted to mean that the township was totally
free from Ebola and the news, which spread like wildfire, sent hundreds into
the streets to celebrate,” said resident Moiwo Sesay.
“Commercial bike riders and taxi drivers honked their horns and
people embraced each other while some kissed the ground.”
Riot police dispersed the crowds and slapped a dusk-till-dawn
curfew on residents, witnesses told AFP. There were no reports of deaths or
serious injuries.
“It was a false alarm by some people with ill intentions,” said
local police spokesman Ibrahim Samura told AFP.
Makeni, 195 kilometres (120 miles) north of Freetown, is the
capital of Bombali district, which is under quarantine along with four other
districts as part of a lockdown of more than two million people.
The city has recorded some 220 confirmed Ebola cases, and 172
confirmed or probable deaths from the virus.
Witnesses said similar scenes of celebration unfolded in the
northwestern town of Port Loko, the capital of a district of the same name
which is also quarantined.
“The government of Sierra Leone has not declared an end of the
Ebola virus disease… and is still very busy implementing measures already in
place to break the chain of transmission and to eventually contain the
disease, which is spreading fast across the country,” the Ministry of
Health said in a statement.
The communique reminded Sierra Leoneans that the entire country
remained under a state-of-emergency which prohibited public gatherings.
Ebola, which has killed around half of those it has infected in
the west African outbreak, is spread through bodily fluids, and local health
officials said they feared the celebrations in Makeni may have exacerbated the
contagion.
The outbreak has claimed more than 3,000 lives this year in Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone - Vanguard Nigeria