The Sierra Leone government implemented a three-day lockdown of its 6 million residents as of Friday, September 19th. The lockdown was prompted as a desperate effort to control the Ebola outbreak that has claimed more than 2600 lives in West Africa, 560 of which have been from Sierra Leone alone. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Sierra Leone lockdown is the largest in history since attempts to control the plague during the Middle Ages in Europe.

While residents have been confined to their homes, thousands of healthcare workers have been going door to door, in hopes of isolating infected individuals and bringing them to treatment centres, with ambulances on standby for transport. In addition, healthcare workers are also planning to hand out approximately 1.5 million bars of soap by the end of the quarantine period, and free Ebola advice and education for the citizens of the country.

Many feared cooperation issues would arise from the forcible implementation of the lockdown, especially given the past history of tension and mistrust of healthcare workers by the general population. Healthcare workers across West Africa have been attacked by villagers who believe that they are reason for the Ebola spread, while other villagers have had a history of violently resisting quarantine orders. Most recently in Guinea, three local journalists and five individuals on an Ebola education campaign were brutally attacked and killed by villagers armed with rocks and knives.

Fortunately in Sierra Leone, there have been no reports of resistance thus far, with the general population taking the lockdown very seriously even despite the heat and power cuts. There is still fear that lockdown may not help control the outbreak as intended, partially due to the occurrence of sick individuals who are afraid of dying at treatment centres who are hiding in their homes, potentially infecting family members.

International experts further fear that there may not be enough beds in the country for any new cases that arise during the lockdown period. Regardless of such concerns, there is a renewed sense of hope in the compliant population. “It will protect our country from this dangerous virus,” said Ishmail Bangura, a Freetown resident. “Many of our people have died — nurses and doctors, too — so if they ask us to stay home for three days, for me it is not bad.”