In a bid to curb the spread of the incurable Ebola virus to rural areas, Sierra Leone has banned Christmas and New Year gatherings, urging people to celebrate the annual festival at home.
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There would be “no Christmas and New Year celebrations this year. We will ensure that everybody remains at home to reflect on Ebola," Palo Conteh, the minister of defense who heads the government’s Ebola response unit was quoted by the Guardian.
“Military personnel will be on the streets at Christmas and the New Year to stop any street celebrations.”
Enforced by the army, the ban will be applied in the Capital, Freetown, where more than 30% of the population live.
The virus, for which there is no treatment or vaccine, has claimed almost 6,580 dead across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Out of the 8,086 infected people in Sierra Leone, 1,900 died so far.
Public gatherings have been banned in the three West African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea where schools and clubs are closed.
While travel is highly restricted in Sierra Leone, church services are still being held while separating members of the congregation.
"This Christmas is not going to be like any other and we are nowhere near the end of this mess," Peter Struijf, Oxfam’s Ebola response manager in Sierra Leone, said.
“Normal life came to an end some time ago for most people, including worse effects than the Christmas festivities – with the losses of jobs and freedom of travel and closure of schools and quarantine.”
While Christians represent more than 10% of Sierra Leone population, Muslims make about 60% while about 30% follow indigenous beliefs.
Christmas is the main festival on the Christian calendar. Its celebrations reach its peak at 12:00 PM on December 24 of every year.
Muslims believe in Jesus as one of the great Prophets of God and that he is the son of Mary but not the Son of God. He was conceived and born miraculously.
In the Noble Qur’an, Jesus is called "Isa". He is also known as Al-Masih (the Christ) and Ibn Maryam (Son of Mary).
Virus Outbreaks
The ban on Christmas and New Year gatherings comes as population movement form Freetown to remote parts has resulted in 87 deaths in the diamond-rich Kono district this week.
“Our team met heroic doctors and nurses at their wits’ end, exhausted burial teams and lab techs, all doing the best they could but they simply ran out of resources and were overrun with gravely ill people,” said Dr Olu Olushayo, WHO national coordinator for the Ebola response.
“In districts like Kono, with moderate transmission confined to limited villages and chiefdoms, the best chance of eliminating transmission is through aggressive and comprehensive case investigation and contact tracing.”
According to health officials, some traditional practices like touching and washing Ebola’s dead hamper efforts to combat the virus.
Muslims in Ebola-hit countries have been cautioned against washing the bodies of people who died of Ebola to avoid spreading the virus.
Between 70-80% of Ebola infected people get the virus during burial of relatives, according to the Sierra Leone Health Ministry.
On his part, Serra Leone’s president Ernest Bai Koroma urged people to shun religious and cultural practices that help in spreading the deadly Ebola virus.
"We should stop all traditional practices for now so that we will live to continue to practice them later," President Ernest Bai Koroma said on Thursday, December 11, USA TODAY reported.
The Muslim-dominated Republic of Guinea remains the worst affected by the disease that was discovered in 1976 after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The contagious disease, which has no known cure, has initial symptoms that include headaches, muscle pain, conjunctivitis and weakness, before moving into more severe phases of causing vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding.
The fatality rate of the current outbreak is around 60% although Ebola can kill up to 90% of those who catch it./SR
