Ebola threatens world peace
UN Security Council declared the Ebola outbreak a threat to world peace and called on countries to provide urgent aid as Sierra Leone went ahead with its controversial Ebola shutdown yesterday.
The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that the number of Ebola infections -- already more than 5,000 -- was doubling every three weeks, notably in Liberia. The epidemic has so far killed more than 2,600 people.
It was only the third resolution on a public health emergency to be approved in the history of the United Nations. The council voted on measures to address the AIDS pandemic in 2000 and 2011.
In its resolution, the council declared that the "unprecedented extent of the Ebola outbreak in Africa constitutes a threat to international peace and security" and warned that "peace building gains... could be reversed" in West Africa.
The measure also urged nations to lift travel and border restrictions, and asked airlines and shipping companies to maintain their links with affected countries.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone yesterday launched a nationwide three-day shutdown to contain the deadly spread of Ebola.
"These are extraordinary times and extraordinary times require extraordinary measures," said Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma.
Most of Sierra Leone's six million people were confined to their homes from midnight, with only essential workers such as health professionals and security forces exempt. Almost 30,000 volunteers began door-to-door rounds to educate locals and hand out soap, in an exercise expected to lead to scores more patients and bodies being discovered in homes.
Shops and offices were shut across the city, and only emergency vehicles plied streets which are normally jammed with traffic throughout the day.
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