Sierra Leone Makes Hiding Ebola Patients Illegal

abc ^ | Aug 23, 2014, 3:58 PM ET | CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY ,Marc-Andre Boisvert,Jonathan Paye-Layleh

[BenLurkin]

Sierra Leone has passed a new law imposing possible jail time for anyone caught hiding an Ebola patient — a common practice that the World Health Organization believes has contributed to a major underestimation of the current outbreak.

The new law, passed Friday, imposes prison terms of up to two years for violators, said lawmaker Ansumana Jaiah Kaikai. It now goes for presidential approval.

He said the measure was necessary to compel residents to cooperate with government officials, noting that some residents had resisted steps to combat Ebola and build isolation centers in their communities.

A total of 2,615 infections and 1,427 deaths have been recorded in the Ebola outbreak now hitting West Africa, according to figures released Friday by the World Health Organization. Sierra Leone has been hard-hit, with at least 910 cases and 392 deaths.

But these numbers don't capture all Ebola cases because families hide patients, fearing high fatality rates and the stigma that comes with a positive diagnosis, the U.N. health agency said.

[Gen.Blather]

In another announcement the president’s office vowed beatings would continue until morale improved. Let’s see, why do they hide the patients again? Oh, so they won’t be sentenced to death by quarantine. If quarantined they’ll have to survive on what food they have in the house. So, free food in jail vs. starvation by quarantine.

[humblegunner]

Well.. if they just fall over and die they aren’t really “patients” are they?

[cripplecreek]

Thank God they don’t have to live under the horrifying oppression of Ferguson MO. /s

[RetiredTexasVet]

“A total of 2,615 infections and 1,427 deaths have been recorded in the Ebola outbreak ...”

Wonder if the BLS (Bureau of Lies & Statistics) contributed to the generation of these numbers? I would suspect the real totals are at least 10 times those numbers.