By Septimus Senessie in Kono
The authorities in Kono have declared an indefinite night time curfew in a bid to stem the spread of Ebola.
The edict which was announced by Paramount Chief Paul Saquee at a District Task Force meeting last night, starts today and will last from 10:00 PM - 07:00 AM.
No vehicles will be allowed into the district after 8PM.
Chief Saquee said the decision emanated from the confirmation over the weekend of three Ebola cases two of whom died of the disease. He said none of the three were residents of Kono and that they had come to the district sick.
He said 85 people had been quarantined.
The curfew comes as the authorities launched an Ebola appeal funds with account numbers 0030077115311001 at the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank. Le 68 million have so far been deposited by both the government and the private sector operating in the district.
PC Saquee told Politico that the initiative was to complement the efforts of the government and its partners in the fight against Ebola in the district, assuring that whatever amount of money they raised from the Trust Fund would be used purely for the motivation of the military, the national and local administrative police to patrol the already identified 32 entry points from Kailahun and Kenema districts, as well as neighbouring Guinea.
Serving as Chairman of Paramount Chiefs in the district, the chief told journalist that if it came to the crunch they wouldn’t mind jumping onto the streets of Koidu with begging bowl for financial contributions to fight Ebola out of the district.
“All of us must also contribute our time, finances and moral support to join the fight against Ebola” the chief said, adding that no one was prepared for such an outbreak hence no special funds set aside for it.
He therefore called on the people of Kono District, both at home and abroad, to contribute towards the efforts.
The Kono District Medical Officer said they have three confirmed positive cases of Ebola as of the 31 August two of whom had died with their corpses concealed at the hospital waiting for burial, while the third one was in a critical condition and had been taken to Kailahun for treatment since Kenema lacked space.
The Mayor of Koidu Council described the new confirmed Ebola cases in the district as surprising and worrisome to all of them. Saa Emerson Lamina recommended the strengthening of Zonal Tax Forces on Ebola as the police and soldier would not be in every part of the district to conduct surveillance and contact tracing.
While the district pharmacist at hospital, Tamba Buffa, who also serves as the secretary to the logistics committee of the Kono District Ebola Tax Force, thanked IRC for donating 278 Itel Mobile phones and two second-hand motor bikes to promote tracing of Ebola in the district.
He also thanked UNICEF who donated two brand new motor bikes to support surveillance activities in the district.
(C) Politico 02/09/14
