On Thursday, Sierra Leone restricted travel into and within three Ebola "hotspots."
The locations in question — the Port Loko, Bombali, and Moyamba districts — are collectively home to 1.5 million people. With the new restrictions, more than a third of Sierra Leone's population has been quarantined, The Associated Press reports.
Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma announced the isolation on Wednesday night, saying that only people "delivering essential services" will be allowed to enter the region, AP reports. The World Health Organization believes that the districts in question have seen a recent rise in Ebola infections. Sierra Leone itself has been hit particularly hard by Ebola.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"There is a desperate need to step up our response to this dreaded disease," the Sierra Leone government said in a statement. "The prognosis is that without additional interventions or changes in community behavior, the numbers will increase exponentially, and the situation will rapidly deteriorate."
WHO estimates released Thursday put the death toll from the current Ebola outbreak at more than 2,900, out of over 6,200 people infected.
-
The party bringing Trump-style populism to JapanUnder The Radar Far-right party is ‘Rise of Sanseito is ‘shattering’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top threeFeature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more
-
Film reviews: Anemone and The Smashing MachineFeature A recluse receives an unwelcome guest and a pioneering UFC fighter battles addiction
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
