KEY POINTS
President Koroma of Sierra Leone visits Tombo and reiterates commitment to get to zero
Vice President Sumana of Sierra Leone quarantine’s himself
Response partners intensify community engagement in Guinea
Key Political and Economic Developments
On 27 February, President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone undertook a field visit to the quarantined community in Aberdeen and a fishing village in Tombo, where he recalled the objective of the Mano River Union (MRU) to get to zero in 60 days (by 15 April) and reiterated the country’s commitment to get to zero. He highlighted that it is the responsibility of all Sierra Leoneans to join in the fight to getting to zero and called on the fishing community to help in this final push to zero. He announced measures such as checkpoints to enhance monitoring and additional public transportation protocols. President Koroma was accompanied by UNMEER Ebola Crisis Manager, Ms. Bintou Keita and the Head of National Ebola Response Cell (NERC), Mr. Palo Conteh, among others.
On 28 February, the Vice President of Sierra Leone, Chief Sam Sumana, issued a statement informing the nation that a member of his security team died of EVD on 24 February. He noted that the standard operating procedure applies in all cases and steps are already underway to identify all potential contacts of the deceased and called on all that may have been in contact with the diseased to identify themselves and cooperate with the implementation of the protocols. The Vice President declared that he will be under quarantine for 21 days at his residence and that his office where the deceased worked was being disinfected.
On 27 and 28 February, the President of the National Assembly of Guinea undertook an advocacy visit to Guéckédou and Kissidougou, to support local authorities in the fight against Ebola.
On 26 February, the SRSG visited Boffa prefecture, an area where response partners have experienced community resistance and held talks with local and community authorities. While in Guinea, the SRSG also met with President Alpha Conde to update him on UNMEER’s efforts