Healthcare workers treat Ebola (file)
Healthcare workers treat Ebola (file)Reuters

The World Health Organization has declared Sierra Leone to be clear of Ebola after the country has gone 42 days without any known cases.

Almost 4,000 people in Sierra Leone died of Ebola over the past year and a half.

President Ernest Bai Koroma has welcomed the new status, but says that the WHO unfairly delayed its announcement, which led to unnecessary movement restrictions in Sierra Leone. He added that his government did all that it could to fight the disease, but that it was limited by a lack of knowledge about the best ways to handle it.

Liberia, Sierra Leone's neighbor to the east, lost 4,800 people to Ebola and received its all-clear in September. Guinea, sitting north of both countries, still has several infected residents.