Tag: christmas

Could Christmas Worsen Ebola’s Spread?

Christmas is coming. Around the world, people who celebrate the end of the year holidays are taking time off and heading home to see friends and relatives. They include aid workers fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. And they include residents of the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic. It worries Dr. Dan Kelly. And officials in Sierra Leone were concerned enough to limit public gatherings for the holidays. “The...

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Burials continue despite ‘cancelled’ Christmas in Sierra Leone

Ebola Diary: After a week in West Africa, Sarah Boseley concludes that not enough is yet known about the virus, except that it must be eradicated. A large group of men, women and children, all in their best clothes, is gathered in the yard of a house in Wellington, an Ebola-hit western area of Freetown. The dresses and headscarves are bright but the faces are sombre. Alie Kamara, the owner of the house, died this morning and lies inside. He will...

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Ebola concern cancels Christmas and New Year’s gatherings in Sierra Leone

Christmas and New Year gatherings have been banned by the government throughout Sierra Leone for fear the Ebola virus will be spread to rural villages as people go home to celebrate. The edict, which will be enforced by the army, means those who live in the capital, Freetown, will be barred from travelling to join their extended families. The city’s residents account for a third of the country’s population. A “lock-down” is reported to also be...

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