Authorities in Sierra Leone are ordering people to stay at home for three days this month as part of an effort to stop the spread of the Ebola virus, which has killed more than 2,000 people in West Africa.
A spokesman for the government said Saturday that people will not be allowed to leave their homes from late September 18 till September 21.
Humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders has criticized the measure saying it could lead to people trying to conceal infections. Experts have repeatedly said that quarantines and border closures do not help control Ebola. They recommend screening and immediate treatment for suspected patients.
A lockdown last month in an area of Monrovia, Liberia sparked riots.
Ebola has ravaged Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since March.
The White House on Friday asked Congress to approve an additional $58 million to fund accelerated research and development of Ebola medicines and possible vaccines.
Also Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the United Nations is creating an Ebola crisis center to coordinate efforts to combat the disease.
There is currently no approved treatment for the deadly disease, although an experimental serum, Zmapp, made by a U.S. company, has been given to a small number of patients, some of whom have survived.
Some information for this report comes from AP.
