Off the wire
• Roundup: Confusion mars death of ICC witness in Kenya  • Joan Laporta considering return to FC Barcelona presidency  • Ghana names final 23-man AFCON squad  • French stock market index strongly rebounds by 3.59 pct on Thursday  • Sony delays sale of PlayStation 4 in China  • AU condemns terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris  • Xinhua Asia-Pacific News Summary at 1600GMT, Jan. 8  • Gambia's Bird Airlines suspends commercial flights  • Across China: Travelling hopefully, with a dog, a wheelchair and a lot of love  • S. Africa's business confidence index drops  
You are here: 　 Home

Sierra Leone extends operation Surge against Ebola

Xinhua, January 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sierra Leone has decided to extend operation Surge, which was introduced two weeks ago to stop the spread of Ebola infection, for another two weeks.

Operation Surge was introduced in the wake of increasing Ebola infections, especially in the western area, including the capital, Freetown.

The CEO of the National Ebola Response Center, Palo Conteh, told his first press conference after the New year on Wednesday that the extension was meant to "build on the momentum and capitalize on its success."

He attributed the success to a number of interventions, including increased and efficient social mobilization.

More people were identified and brought to health facilities and in some cases people walked voluntarily to the health centers to declare themselves, Conteh said.

The objective of operation Surge was to reduce the Ebola transmission rate in the western area and ultimately stop new transmission and at the same time restore faith in the country's health care system, he said.

There are now more than 800 beds in both treatment and holding centers all over the country, and eleven labs together with about 100 ambulances, said Conteh. Endi