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NINETY-TWO bodies and at least 56 new infections have been discovered in Sierra Leone during a nationwide Ebola lockdown. The three-day lockdown came into effect on Friday and is aimed at stemming the worst Ebola epidemic on record. The country’s six million residents have been ordered to stay indoors as volunteers circulate to educate people about the outbreak and isolate the sick.

Stephen Gaojia, head of the Emergency Operations Centre which leads the Ebola response, said the lockdown is likely to be extended.
“There is a very strong possibility it will be extended,” Gaojia said.

“Even though the exercise has been a huge success so far, it has not been concluded in some metropolitan cities like Freetown and Kenema.”
British officials recently announced they were setting up a treatment centre in Kerrytown following a direct request for help to combat the outbreak.

The 62-bed facility will treat victims of the disease, including local and international health workers and volunteers.
The West Africa outbreak has so far killed more than 2,600 people and infected around twice as many since March.

Meanwhile, Liberia yesterday announced plans for a huge increase in beds for Ebola patients in Monrovia, raising the number from around 250 to 1,000 by the end of October.

“Patients are being rejected… because there is no space, so the government is trying its best to finish the 1,000 beds so we can accommodate all the patients,” said Information Minister Lewis Brown.

“That way, we will curtail the spread because those who are rejected go back to their communities where they can possibly infect other people,” he said.

The move comes two weeks after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the country, worst-hit in the outbreak with more than 1,450 deaths, that it was about to see a huge spike in infections, with thousands of new cases imminent.

In Montserrado county, which includes Monrovia, the agency said 1,000 beds were urgently needed to treat Ebola patients.
The announcement came ahead of the opening of a 150-bed unit, the largest government facility in the country, in the western suburb of Duala. — Sky News/AFP.