Sierra Leone celebrates lifting of ban on public gatherings due to Ebola

THE GUARDIAN by Lisa O'Carroll                      Aug. 10, 2015

FREETOWN --Celebrations broke out all over Sierra Leone at the weekend after a ban on public gatherings prompted by the outbreak of Ebola more than a year ago was lifted.

                       People play football on a beach in Freetown. Photograph: Lisa O'Carroll for the Guardian

Sierra Leoneans were allowed to go to sporting events and nightclubs, and stay out in restaurants after 9pm, following the decision by the president, Ernest Bai Koroma, to lift the ban on Friday. Some partied hard into the night, while others played football on the beaches and flocked to makeshift cinemas to watch the Manchester United and Arsenal matches....

Though Koroma lifted the ban on public gatherings, he extended the state of emergency and some key restrictions, including on traditional burials and Sunday markets. The president said: “The easing of restrictions is not a sign that Ebola is over. It is not. The risk has receded but Ebola has not fully retreated.”
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/10/sierra-leone-ebola-public-gatherings-ban-lifted-president-koroma