November 7, 2016 By Alusine Sesay
With Sierra Leone today marking a year’s anniversary after the end of Ebola in 2015, the President’s Recovery Priority Team, through Secretary to the President, Osho Coker, has called on all citizens to observe three minutes of silence from 10a.m. to 10:3a.m.
It could be recalled that WHO officially declared Sierra Leone Ebola Free after 17 months of fatal outbreak, which caused scores of deaths, left thousands of survivors and a battered economy.
The Ebola virus disease was confirmed in Sierra Leone in May 2014 after a pregnant woman and an elderly woman were diagnosed with the disease in Kailahun, eastern Sierra Leone, on the border with Guinea, where the virus started spreading.
During the outbreak in Sierra Leone, hundreds of cases were reported on a daily basis, while 3,955, including 221 health workers were reported dead.
The plague was fought on several fronts, including the implementation of bye-laws and emergency regulations, coupled with the intervention of the international community.
On November 7, 2015 the WHO officially declared the country Ebola free after 42 days of no reported case of new infection.
After a year and half of living in fear and seclusion as a result of the virus, the November declaration was observed lavishly in country, with drumming, singing and dancing as people celebrated release from 17 months of enforced restriction of both personal and public life.
Meanwhile, as the country observes one year on after the declaration, the government has urged all citizens to observe 3 minutes silence in honour of the dead and survivors.
The scars of the outbreak are still fresh though as survivals continue to battle post-virus symptoms and the economy’s economy still struggle to regain pre-Ebola boom.