Sierra Leone’s Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana said on Saturday that he had placed himself in a 21-day quarantine after one of his bodyguards died of Ebola amid a worrying recent surge in new infections in the West African nation.
Of 99 new confirmed Ebola cases in the region during the week to Feb. 22, however, 63 were in Sierra Leone according to the World Health Organisation’s weekly report.
Sam-Sumana’s bodyguard John Koroma died early this week.
“I have decided to be put under quarantine because I do not want to take chances and I want to lead by example,” the vice president told Reuters. “I am very well and showing no signs of illness.”
More likely he is trying to avoid the “tainted” masses he is supposed to represent.