Ebola-Hit Sierra Leone to Lock Down 25 Lakh People

Sierra Leone said Thursday it will confine around 2.5 million (25 lakh) people to their homes across the capital and in the north in a three-day shutdown aimed at stemming the Ebola epidemic.

The worst-ever outbreak of the virus has claimed almost 3,700 lives in the impoverished west African nation, one of three countries that have seen their economies wrecked and healthcare systems obliterated in the crisis.

"The lockdown will be conducted from March 27 to March 29 and will be like the one we conducted in September last year," said Palo Conteh, head of the country's National Ebola Response Centre.

"The government and partners are hopeful that latent cases that are now not being reported or recorded will come out."

The action, which follows a nationwide lockdown in September, was announced after the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday that the death toll from Ebola since December 2013 stood at almost 10,200.