In an attempt to better the situation and contain the spread of the Ebola virus, Sierra Leone has decided to enact a three-day lockdown throughout the nation.

The government of Sierra Leone announced that it would enact the three-day lockdown between Sept. 19 to 21, according to NPR. However, success depends mostly on citizens' adhering to the lockdown since Sierra Leone does not possess a police or military force large enough to maintain the nation's six million citizens in their homes.

According to Reuters, deputy information minister for the Sierra Leone government, Theo Nichol, said health workers would use the lockdown as an opportunity to go door-to-door and assess who is infected.

Nichol added that the government could extent the lockdown if it needed, and an official for the president originally said the lockdown would last four days.

But, there are various critiques. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has said a door-to-door assessment requires more expertise than health workers in the country possess.

However, the government will go forward with it.

"The aggressive approach is necessary to deal with the spread of Ebola once and for all," Presidential adviser Ibrahim Ben Kargbod said according to the Guardian.

"It has been our experience that lockdowns and quarantines do not help control Ebola as they end up driving people underground and jeopardizing the trust between people and health providers. This leads to the concealment of potential cases and ends up spreading the disease further," an MSF spokeswoman said, concerning the proposed lockdown. "What Sierra Leone and Liberia both urgently need are more beds in case management centers, and they need them now."

Sierra Leone's health and sanitation ministry reports there have 404 deaths because of Ebola in the nation. As a whole, the virus continues to spread throughout West Africa. The World Health Organization reports there are 3,685 cases of infection and 1,841 deaths in the region, as of Aug. 31.

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