Sierra Leone to Impose 4-Day, Countrywide Anti-Ebola 'Lockdown'

Reuters reports:

Sierra Leone will impose a four-day, countrywide "lockdown" starting Sept. 18, an escalation of efforts to halt the spread of Ebola across the West African nation, a senior official in the president's office said on Friday.

Source

Why Sept. 18 I wonder. Why not now? The sooner the better, especially when dealing with something as dangerous as Ebola. Are they waiting to reach the 1,000 deaths mark? At the current rate they could be there in less than 2 weeks.

originally posted by: negue


Why Sept. 18 I wonder. Why not now?

Probably because you can't just lock down an entire country for four days, at the drop of a hat.

a reply to: negue

Hmm. It wouldn't surprise me if it already did reach the 1000 mark. They just haven't revealed it. And I wonder why just 4 days?

It's no different from preparing for the Christmas/New Year holidays. Shop early and stock your house up with enough food and supplies to last a while, and you can stay at home for two weeks off with no shopping hassles.

So this is the equivalent of an Ebola holiday.

Announce it now so everyone has 13 days to flee before the 18th that seems logical.

That didn't occur to me. I was totally thinking like those before you that people need to stock up. Van you imagine a tp emergency?!
a reply to: joho99

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Just working from the presumption they actually want to spread it.

Gives time for people to gather sick relatives, possibly contaminated items if it's possible.

^^^^Agreed. Plenty of time for people to leave and spread it, those visibly sick and the ones who still feel pretty good.

"We'll lock down the country for 4 days, in 13 days. That way, we can stop the spread of Ebola."

That'll do the trick.

originally posted by: clenz

originally posted by: negue


Why Sept. 18 I wonder. Why not now?

Probably because you can't just lock down an entire country for four days, at the drop of a hat.

you can lock it down with out announcing it to minimise people spreading it further.


a individual is unpredictable but populations are predictable give them less food and a reason to move and they will unless they lack time.

a reply to: negue

Why Sept. 18 I wonder. Why not now?

Agreed. Totally random date. About two weeks away.
With the current exponential growth in new cases, I cannot fathom their reasoning.
If lockdown is ever a valid strategy for this, it must be sooner rather than later. Like... NOW?!

You have to feel sorry for the ones who are stuck in a house for 4 days with others that have ebola.

I wonder how many more will be infected after the 4 days?

a reply to: joho99

Of course. I have read horror stories about children forced to live in shuttered houses with their parents' corpses (killed by Ebola). No food, no water, left to die there. I imagine there are untold horror stories in the cordoned-off areas, where army is ordered to shoot on sight should any one try to leave. There are no food supplies entering those "sealed" areas. I imagine the entire medical system is close to collapse (if not already collapsed) in these countries. I imagine there will be horror stories about people stuck for 4 days in houses with Ebola cases. Not cases actually, we refer to them as such, but to them they're family. They're human.

---

At least some of you understood. In a country where beliefs that "doctors in hospitals are the ones getting people sick with Ebola" are common, announcing a lockdown 2 weeks from now seems futile to me. All those that have the symptoms/are at risk and do not want to go to hospitals will have ample time to hide. I'm not a specialist, but it's my opinion that this "lockdown" will solve nothing. It could even make it worse in people's minds: "so now the army is coming for us and will take us to hospitals where they innoculate us with Ebola". This has the potential to go wildly wrong.

a reply to: negue

announcing a lockdown 2 weeks from now seems futile to me. All those that have the symptoms/are at risk and do not want to go to hospitals will have ample time to hide.

for uncommonly common sense. I didn't even consider that aspect! This is basically giving a 'heads up' to get outa Dodge, for anyone who has the means to do so, incubation status notwithstanding.

Stupid, stupid decision! Can they help spread it any more? (NVM, I take that back and knock on wood. I know that they can, and will not tempt fate!)

a reply to: new_here

There are other posts saying the same thing, and on the opening post I asked "why not now?". I can't even begin to understand the ramifications and difficulties of "stopping" a country, but if you do it anyway, do it now. Or pray to have enough manpower left to enforce it 10 days from now. Announcing the lockdown for Sep18 it's like the police calling a wanted dude only to say "we're coming to get you in 3 days!". Bad analogy I know, it's the only one I could think of.

a reply to: negue

I should imagine the ones that do decide to stay and have no running water will be sharing bottled water that they have attempted to stock up in the 2 weeks notice, that should help spread it a bit.

To be honest i am having problems imagining how they can enforce this on 6 million people since most seem to live hand to mouth.

a reply to: clenz
the USA did after the 9/11 attacks.

?

Medics Without Borders:

Sierra Leone's proposed countrywide "lockdown" will not help control an Ebola outbreak and could lead to the disease spreading further as cases are concealed, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Saturday.

Source

Yup.

This sounds like a terrible idea PLUS bad planning.

Sometimes, when I read stuff like this, this is my reaction about the ones in charge:

It begins:

In her free time Isha Turay, an 18-year-old Sierra Leonean student, sells vegetables on Malama Thomas Street in the heart of the bustling capital, Freetown, so that she and her siblings can eat.

But for three days, starting at midnight on Thursday, her stand will be abandoned during a nationwide lockdown aimed at helping Sierra Leone fight an outbreak of Ebola ravaging the country and the region.

Sierra Leone's government says extreme measures are needed to try to contain the world's worst outbreak of Ebola on record but many fear it will bring more hardship to a nation that is already one of the poorest on earth.

Critics also question whether it will even be effective.

Initially a plan to locate the ill, Sierra Leone's lockdown will now seek to make people aware of the risks of Ebola and what to do if a family member falls sick, the government says.

As about 30,000 volunteers train for their dawn-to-dusk information campaign, residents flocked to high-end supermarkets and, between downpours, street stalls to buy food and medicine.

Queues formed along streets as people stocked up on fuel. Banks, already operating at reduced hours to limit infections, overflowed as clients withdrew cash.

Full article here: Reuters

Wish them good luck. Pray for them. Keep them in mind. Remember we're blessed, we don't have to go through what they're going through now. For now, at least...