FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) – Sierra Leone’s president is easing restrictions on movement and commercial activity as an Ebola outbreak subsides in West Africa, while warning that the fight against the deadly disease is not yet over.
While the outbreak has sickened more than 21,000 people, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the number of new infections is falling.
President Ernest Bai Koroma announced in a national broadcast that, starting Friday, the country would lift all district quarantines and extend business hours on Saturdays. Koroma said in the Thursday night speech that while people must remain vigilant, easing the restrictions can jump-start the economic recovery.
The country plans to reopen schools in March, and Koroma also outlined the steps that must be taken before that happens.