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Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone announces house-to-house searches Ebola: Sierra Leone begins house-to-house searches
(about 7 hours later)
Sierra Leone is due to mount house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola. Sierra Leone has begun house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola.
President Ernest Bai Koroma also said that Sunday trading would be banned and travel between districts restricted. President Ernest Bai Koroma said that Sunday trading would be banned and travel between districts restricted.
The measures come after the authorities banned all public celebrations of Christmas and New Year in a bit to tackle the virus. The president said that as Christmas approached, people would need to be reminded that Sierra Leona was at war with a "vicious enemy".
Sierra Leone is one of the countries worst hit by Ebola, which has killed more than 6,800 people this year. Sierra Leone has overtaken Liberia to have the highest number of Ebola cases, World Health Organization figures show.
In his statement, President Koroma said the searches aimed to "break the chain of transmission", the AFP news agency reported. The virus has killed more than 6,800 people this year, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
He added: "Do not hide the sick". In his statement, President Koroma said the searches aimed to "break the chain of transmission".
In addition to the blanket Sunday trading ban, the new measures will include time restrictions on Saturday and weekday shopping. He added: "Do not hide the sick."
Freetown has recorded more than 50% of all Ebola infections in Sierra Leone over the past two weeks. The president said that while many districts of the country had made progress in fighting Ebola, challenges still remained in the western part of the country, which for the past two weeks had accounted for 50% of new infections.
Our correspondent in Sierra Leone, Umaru Fofana, said the measures were partially aimed at controlling crowds. He said that he was introducing an action plan, Operation Western Area Surge, to encourage people to come forward if they had a fever or other symptoms of Ebola.
He said it was necessary to introduce such stringent measures even though it was the festive season - a time when people would normally "celebrate with their families in a joyous manner".
The president also said that:
The prevalence of the virus in the capital Freetown is thought to be one of the reasons why Ebola is spreading so fast in the west.
Our correspondent in Sierra Leone, Umaru Fofana, said the measures were partly aimed at controlling crowds.
He said people in Freetown continued to gather on the streets or go jogging along the beach despite the Ebola threat.He said people in Freetown continued to gather on the streets or go jogging along the beach despite the Ebola threat.
This is not the first time that Sierra Leone has used stringent tactics to locate Ebola sufferers, but none have stopped the rise in infections.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Tom Frieden told the AP news agency that "the fight is going to be long and hard to get to zero cases", and is heavily contingent on sick individuals coming forward to be diagnosed.