The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, started at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China. It is spreading rapidly around the world and countries face many challenges in preventing and managing the spread of a new virus within and across borders.
The World Health Organisation has expressed particular concerns about the vulnerability of countries with weak health systems. Resource-poor countries like Sierra Leone have faced major outbreaks of infectious diseases in the past – most notably the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
That 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak infected more people and claimed more lives than previous outbreaks of the disease. Like COVID-19, it affected multiple countries and urban settings. Sierra Leone’s eastern region was the first to be affected by Ebola in May 2014. Read more…
