Ebola-hit Liberia to reopen borders

Nationwide curfews to also be lifted as number of Ebola cases has gone down

Liberia is planning to reopen its borders following a reduction in the number of Ebola cases being reported in the country, a media report said Saturday.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made the announcement Friday and said nationwide curfews would also be lifted, BBC reported.

New infections have dropped to one-tenth of the level seen when the virus was at its peak.

Bruce Aylward, who leads the World Health Organisation's official Ebola response, said data showed the steep decrease in infections has now flattened, at a rate of around 120 to 150 new cases a week.

More than 9,300 people have died since the outbreak of the virus in 2014.

However, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have pledged to achieve zero Ebola infections within the next two months.

Liberia was hardest-hit by the outbreak, but has been leading the recovery, with only two confirmed cases in the week leading to 12 in February.

This compares to 74 in Sierra Leone and 52 in Guinea.

In a statement on her website, President Johnson Sirleaf said "health protocols" would prevent the virus being carried across the country's borders when they reopen Sunday.

Borders were closed last year and an overnight curfew imposed as part of a state of emergency.

Schools in Liberia have also reopened in recent weeks in a bid to help the country return to normal.

Staff have been given thermometers to take pupils' temperatures and buckets of chlorinated water for them to wash their hands.