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 Sierra Leone, the country worst-affected by the disease, has
reported nearly 12,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths since the
epidemic was declared a year ago.
The slums around Freetown are among the hardest-hit areas.
Case numbers have tumbled from a peak of over 500 per week in
December to 33 in the week to March 22, with most in the capital and
near the northern border with Guinea, which is also still fighting
the outbreak.
"There have been reports of complacency with hand-washing and
temperature checks, and this is an opportunity to up the
sensitization and to be more proactive looking for cases," John
Fleming, Red Cross emergency health coordinator, told Reuters by
telephone from the capital.
In an indication that residents were cooperating with the campaign,
Fleming said the streets of the capital's normally bustling Aberdeen
fishing community were "eerily quiet" on Friday morning.
Officials hailed a previous lockdown in September as a success,
helping to identify more than 100 new cases, although some charities
criticized the campaign as being too heavy-handed.
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Sierra Leone's National Ebola Response Centre has said that
residents will be allowed out for Friday prayers and for Sunday
church services.
(Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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