Police, Soldiers Use Tear Gas, Live Rounds To Enforce Ebola Quarantine In Liberian Neighborhood

News outlets report on the situation in Liberia, where quarantines have been instituted to try to stem the spread of Ebola.

Associated Press: Liberian slums barricaded as Ebola sets new record
“Riot police and soldiers acting on their president’s orders used scrap wood and barbed wire to seal off 50,000 people inside their Liberian slum Wednesday, trying to contain the Ebola outbreak that has killed 1,350 people and counting across West Africa…” (Paye-Layleh/Williams, 8/20).

New York Times: Clashes Erupt as Liberia Sets an Ebola Quarantine
“…Fighting Ebola in an urban area — particularly in a neighborhood like this one, known as West Point, an extremely poor and often violent place that still bears deep scars from Liberia’s 14 years of civil war — presents challenges that the government and international aid organizations have only started grappling with…” (Onishi, 8/20).

NPR: Reporting On Ebola: An Abandoned 10-Year-Old, A Nervous Neighborhood
“…The neighborhood is called West Point and it’s where a holding center for patients suspected of having Ebola was attacked over the weekend. Patients fled, and looters carried off bloody mattresses and other possibly infected supplies. The NPR team in Liberia visited West Point on Tuesday. We spoke to correspondent Nurith Aizenman about the experience…” (Silver, 8/20).

Reuters: Liberia police fire on protesters as West Africa’s Ebola toll hits 1,350
“Police in the Liberian capital fired live rounds and tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a stone-throwing crowd trying to break an Ebola quarantine imposed on their neighborhood, as the death toll from the epidemic in West Africa hit 1,350…” (MacDougall/Harding Giahyue, 8/21).

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