Liberia has officially reopened its border with
Sierra Leone and other African nations, and lifted its nationwide
curfews after several months of closure due to the Ebola outbreak, the
BBC reports.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Sunday ordered the lifting of the
nationwide Ebola curfew put in place in August to prevent the further
spread of the virus. Sirleaf also ordered the opening of the country’s
borders with its West African neighbours.
Tolbert Nyenswah, the assistant minister of health for preventive services and head of the country’s Ebola response, said Liberia is returning to a more normal state in light of the recent decline in the number of Ebola cases and the reopening of schools.
“We are seeing some light after the massive Ebola crisis here. Things are improving. And so, the economy of the country has to restart, the president has lifted the curfew, and kids have to go back to school. And so, these are all activities that indicate [we’re] moving toward normality,” Nyenswah is quoted as saying by Voice of America.
Nyenswah noted that if Liberia reports a single case of Ebola per day, that means the disease is still in the country.
“Every single case that is reported in Liberia now is on the contact list. In the past 21 days, we’ve seen only 14 Ebola cases as compared to 70 to 100 cases in the month of August. Our team is robust in the response together with our international partners, including the US government. So, we are optimistic we will get to zero [cases] soon,” he added.
New infections have dropped to one-tenth of the level seen when the virus was at its peak.
More than 9,300 people have died since the outbreak of the virus in early 2014.
According to Voice of America, a Liberian health ministry official said the country will continue to observe all Ebola preventive protocols and regulations until it achieves “zero infections.”
Liberia is one the three countries most affected by the Ebola virus, the others being Guinea and Sierra Leone.
On Thursday, February 19, former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, visited Guinea’s capital, Conakry, to commiserate with the people over the losses suffered due to the Ebola outbreak.
Health officials transport an Ebola victim
Tolbert Nyenswah, the assistant minister of health for preventive services and head of the country’s Ebola response, said Liberia is returning to a more normal state in light of the recent decline in the number of Ebola cases and the reopening of schools.
“We are seeing some light after the massive Ebola crisis here. Things are improving. And so, the economy of the country has to restart, the president has lifted the curfew, and kids have to go back to school. And so, these are all activities that indicate [we’re] moving toward normality,” Nyenswah is quoted as saying by Voice of America.
Nyenswah noted that if Liberia reports a single case of Ebola per day, that means the disease is still in the country.
“Every single case that is reported in Liberia now is on the contact list. In the past 21 days, we’ve seen only 14 Ebola cases as compared to 70 to 100 cases in the month of August. Our team is robust in the response together with our international partners, including the US government. So, we are optimistic we will get to zero [cases] soon,” he added.
New infections have dropped to one-tenth of the level seen when the virus was at its peak.
More than 9,300 people have died since the outbreak of the virus in early 2014.
According to Voice of America, a Liberian health ministry official said the country will continue to observe all Ebola preventive protocols and regulations until it achieves “zero infections.”
Liberia is one the three countries most affected by the Ebola virus, the others being Guinea and Sierra Leone.
On Thursday, February 19, former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, visited Guinea’s capital, Conakry, to commiserate with the people over the losses suffered due to the Ebola outbreak.
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