Time to Overcome Ebola Fright
Although Sierra Leone has beaten back Ebola to the corner with only two districts, Kambia and Port Loko now recording minimal cases, the country seems to be still living in the justifiable fear of the resurgence of the highly contagious mass killer viral disease, otherwise, government would have by now relaxed many of the tight Ebola regulations and restrictions that have been great inconvenience to the masses.
Many humble homes that heavily depend on trading are still suffering severely from the economic hardship inflicted on them by the continuous trade curfew on the whole of Sundays and the evenings of other days of the week. Passengers who ply the city-provincial roads are still being tormented by the frequent thermometer tests at the Ebola checkpoints, apart from the inconvenience of having to climb down and up the vehicles on several occasions for the thermo-test and chlorination of their hands at the series of Ebola checkpoints along the roads.
Bereaved families are still being prevented from washing and burying the dead bodies of their loved ones who, instead, are given what is referred to as safe and dignified burial by the numerous burial teams across the country. Many social activities that enliven especially the youths are still being restricted; government had no alternative but to put in place all the above Ebola emergency regulations and restrictions to prevent a further wide spreading of the deadly virus which has claimed the lives of close to 4,000 people including 15 medical doctors and many other health workers.
But are we going to continue living under the bondage of Ebola even though there is now clear evidence that we have almost eradicated the killer virus from our midst? For a considerable number of days now, most districts including the Western Area have been constantly recording zero cases with only Kambia and Portloko registering an infinitesimal number of cases sporadically. Having defeated Ebola so far, we should now be overcoming the Ebola fright though I agree that a single case of Ebola is tantamount to an epidemic.
Why should we allow the fear of Ebola to keep us in permanent suppression? This country must now try to resume normal economic and social life after all the economic and social setback caused by the murderous Ebola outbreak. Even with the deadly Ebola, life must go on.
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