Ebola: Sierra Leone Officials Criticize Travel Relaxation

ASSOCIATED PRESS BY CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY                                                           Feb. 3, 2015

FREETOWN  --Although Ebola cases are declining in West Africa, Sierra Leone officials are worried that the president's decision to lift travel restrictions may re-ignite the spread of the deadly disease.

President Ernest Bai Koroma two weeks ago announced a relaxation of travel restrictions to support economic activity. Some officials agreed that the closure of roads hurt the economy. Others felt it was too soon.

"It was slightly too early," Freetown Mayor Franklyn Bode Gibson said Tuesday. "We do not know who is safe and who is not," and a second outbreak of the disease would be distrastrous. Gibson saidhe will call for a meeting this week with the National Ebola Response Center to register his disappointment about the re-opening of district roads.

The chairman of the eastern Kenema District, Dr. Senesie Mansaray, said the move to lift travel restrictions is "a serious blunder at this point in time." He said that Bai Koroma should have waited until the end of February or March, while observing the trend of the spread of the virus, to put more mechanisms in place before lifting bans...

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