Coronavirus frontline workers in Sierra Leone declare strike

Frontline workers in Sierra Leone have declared strike which will take effect on Monday as they push for payment of their outstanding salaries.

The workers say the government owes them backlog of hazard salaries spanning 8 weeks. They are demanding the settling of these arrears immediately.

Workers affected include clinicians, lab technicians, surveillance officers, ambulance drivers and cleaners.

The government is yet to react to the concerns of these workers with fears if they down their tolls, there could be dire implications for the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Sierra Leone has so far recorded 852 cases of coronavirus with 415 recoveries and 46 deaths.

#COVID19 update in Africa (As of 31 May 2020, 6 pm East Africa Time)
54 African Union Member States reporting 142,289 cases, 4,084 deaths, and 59,864 recoveries.
More information at https://t.co/vEZ4eupedf#COVID19 #FactsNotFear #AfricaResponds pic.twitter.com/MezmeFocDU

— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) May 31, 2020

Sierra Leone’s government has also announced that effective Monday June 1, 2020, wearing of facemasks in public places is compulsory.

The government said this is part of several measures to contain the spread of the virus.

#Covid19 frontline workers in #SierraLeone say they’ll down tools today until their backlog of hazard pay spanning 8 weeks is paid. They say the affected workers include clinicians, lab technicians, surveillance officers, ambulance drivers and cleaners. EOC yet to respond to me.

— Umaru Fofana (@UmaruFofana) June 1, 2020