Sierra Leonean authorities on Saturday confirmed two new cases of covid-19, bringing the country’s total to 10.
The announcement comes just hours before the country entered a new phase in its national response to the pandemic. Effective midnight last night, citizens were prohibited from traveling outside the district they reside, except with authorization.
Nationwide there is also a curfew from 9pm to 6am daily, staring today, Sunday April 12. The announcement of the two new cases comes amidst reports that the men who tested positive for the virus had gone into hiding. The men reportedly work as lecturers at the iconic Fourah Bay College. But the college has issued a statement saying they were not lecturers and that they work in a different capacity.
A spokesman for the college added in a social media post that the administration had called on the men to come out of hiding and get treatment. As of Sunday, Sierra Leone now has 445 people in quarantine now, up from 374 on Friday.
Meanwhile, the government has had to dismiss report from the World Health Organization (WHO) that one of the country’s cases have died of the virus. The report was reportedly made by the WHO regional office for Africa in an erroneous tweet. A spokesman for the WHO Country Office confirmed that it was an error and the official told APA that the error had been rectified.
“We have taken the necessary corrective measures. We have pulled it down and replaced it with the correct information,” said Saffea Gborie, Information Officer for the WHO in Freetown, in a telephone interview.
KC/abj/APA