FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — The Western African nation of Sierra Leone is taking drastic steps to try to slow the spread of the Ebola virus. Starting at midnight tonight, there will be a three-day nationwide shutdown. The nation’s six million people will be confined to their homes while volunteers search house-to-house for Ebola victims in hiding. They’ll also be handing out soap.
In advance of the shutdown, shoppers today were rushing to stock up on food.
Ebola is estimated to have killed more than 2,600 people, with most of the deaths in Liberia. But the World Health Organization has said that there are probably many more people with Ebola — and that most of them are at home, infecting others, when they should be in treatment centers.
The agency says more than six months into the world’s largest Ebola outbreak, there are still affected areas without access to water or soap.
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APPHOTO AMDF101: In this photo taken on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, a man dries his hands after washing them with chlorine outside a shop in the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Shoppers crowded streets and markets in Sierra Leone’s capital on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014, stocking up for a three-day shutdown that authorities hope will slow the spread of the Ebola outbreak that is accelerating across West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff) (14 Sep 2014)
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