FREETOWN, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sierra Leone has declared a five- day lockdown in the northern region starting from Wednesday, the eve of Christmas, local media said Thursday.
Resident minister for the northern region Alieu Kamara said Wednesday that the lockdown was meant to intensify the containment of the Ebola virus and help stop the spread of the disease.
Markets and shops will be closed and all vehicular traffic will be banned except for authorized vehicles, according to the minister.
Inter-district and inter-chiefdom movements will also be banned.
Christian and Muslim services are not allowed in mosques and churches during the lockdown, except for Christmas Day services on December 25, said the minister.
Local reporters said that most people seem to be in favor of the restrictions, noting that if this is the price people have to pay for eradicating Ebola, so be it.
However, a few residents oppose the restrictions, saying their rights are infringed.
The lockdown comes after the northern and western parts of the country became hotspots of the disease. The two regions account for two thirds of the Ebola cases reported from Sierra Leone.
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