Liberia's president orders civil servants to stay home amid Ebola crisis

Monrovia: Liberia’s president ordered most civil servants to stay home another month in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, according to a statement released today. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered non-essential workers not to come to work and promised that all government workers would still be paid. [caption id=“attachment_1691763” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AP[/caption] Liberia’s schools are already closed in the effort to keep large numbers of people from gathering and potentially spreading the disease. The World Health Organisation says up to 20,000 people may contract the virus before it is put under control, and that it could take six months to do so. More than 1,500 have died across West Africa from Ebola. Liberia has suffered the most deaths in the outbreak that has hit five West African countries. On Friday, Senegal announced its first case. The WHO said a student from Guinea arrived in Dakar by road on 20 August and was staying with relatives “in the outskirts of the city.” It said that on 23 August, he went to a medical facility seeking treatment for fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, all symptoms of Ebola. He was treated for malaria and continued to stay with his relatives before turning up at the Dakar hospital on 26 August. Associated Press