This archive report was first published on 21 April 2020.
On April 20, 2020, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio announced that he would be self-isolating for 14 days as a precautionary measure after one of his bodyguards tested positive for Covid-19.
According to a televised address, President Bio assured the nation that neither he nor any member of his family had developed any coronavirus symptoms.
The bodyguard, who had been in quarantine, eventually tested positive for the virus, prompting the president's decision to self-isolate.
Sierra Leone has seen a rise in Covid-19 cases, with eight new cases confirmed on April 20, bringing the total to 43.
On a positive note, six people were discharged on April 19 after completing treatment for the virus and testing negative.
Across the border in neighbouring Guinea, 43 new cases were recorded, bringing the total to 622, while 35 people who recovered from the virus were discharged.
They include Guinea's minister of Public Works, Moustapha Naïte, and the Minister of Security and Civil protection, Albert Damantang Camara.
In Liberia, there are 99 confirmed cases.
