Sierra Leone staggers in Ebola isolation effort

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-EXCITE

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Some in Sierra Leone ran away from their homes Saturday and others clashed with health workers trying to bury dead Ebola victims as the country struggled through the second day of an unprecedented lockdown to combat the deadly disease.

Despite these setbacks, officials said most of Sierra Leone's 6 million people were complying with orders to stay at home as nearly 30,000 volunteers and health care workers fanned out across the country to distribute soap and information on how to prevent Ebola.

The virus, spread by contact with bodily fluids, has killed than 560 people in Sierra Leone and more than 2,600 in West Africa since the outbreak began last December, according to the World Health Organization. It is killing about half of the people it infects.

The streets of the capital, Freetown, were empty Saturday except for the four-person teams going door to door with kits bearing soap, cards listing Ebola symptoms, stickers to mark houses visited and a tally to record suspected cases.

FULL story at link.



In this Sept. 19, 2014 photo, Idrissa Kargbo, Sierra Leone's National marathon champion who took part in the New York marathon, in recent years, joins Ebola volunteers going from house to house to look for Ebola virus patients in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thousands of health workers began knocking on doors across Sierra Leone on Friday in search of hidden Ebola cases with the entire West African nation locked down in their homes for three days in an unprecedented effort to combat the deadly disease. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)


Read more: By CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY

[tazkcmo]

1. Kudos

To the volunteers!

[Louisiana1976]

2. Right on!

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Look at his smiling face. Clearly, he's glad to help.

I hope this helps the community.
And yes I am a Pollyanna.

Love,
Lmsp

[treestar]

4. What a great guy

Being there to help.

It must be scary to be living there right now.

[seveneyes]

5. others clashed with health workers trying to bury dead Ebola victims

Ignorant or malicious. Let's hope these attackers don't try that when our troops are there to help.

[Marrah_G]

6. Ignorance fueled by tradition

Many of these families and villages have very strict burial traditions that include touching the body. They think if they cannot bury them correctly that the spirits won't rest in peace. This is one reason that the virus has spread. The biggest reason is lack of medical facilities and healthcare.