As his newsfeeds began to fill with coronavirus panic this year, Peter James got flashbacks of the deaths he witnessed during the Ebola crisis.
Peter had been working as a pharmacist in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for five years when the deadly Ebola outbreak began in 2014.
“Knowing that this is an outbreak, an infectious outbreak, similar to Ebola to a certain extent, makes you remember what you went through, what happened, the anxiety and the fear,” the 38-year-old told SBS News.
“You can see that they [Australians] are afraid, they’re panicking, they’ve got that anxiety. So for me, it just reminds me of what happened during Ebola.”
Peter provided community mobilisation and education during the outbreak, raising urgent awareness of the Ebola virus.
A healthcare worker at an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone. Source: Save the Children UK/AAP
“Initially, people didn’t believe that Ebola was real, it was really tough at the beginning,” he said.
Ebola is transmitted to people from wild animals and then spreads in the human population through contact with those infected. It causes severe bleeding and organ failure, and fatality rates vary from 25 to 90 per cent.
Peter said health workers were stigmatised as people believed they carried Ebola. Some were kicked out of their own homes.
“People would work for several hours and then they would go back home, and they really didn’t have enough time to rest,” he said.
An Ebola sign placed in front of a home in Liberia. Source: EPA
“They’d go back to work the next day, and the influx of patients meant they had to work overnight for long hours. So, some of them started making mistakes and got infected through that.”
“The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976,” the World Health Organization states.
More than 11,000 people died in that two-year period - nearly 4,000 in Sierra Leone, 221 of them healthcare workers - and there were 28,600 infections.
To slow the spread of Ebola, authorities in Sierra Leone enforced numerous lockdowns, with the entire population ordered to stay at home.
Several health workers were killed in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis. Source: EPA
But Peter said unlike self-isolation in Australia, in Sierra Leone, they weren’t allowed to leave to buy food.
“During Ebola, we didn’t use the word 'self-isolate' - it was 'quarantined',” he said.
“In that quarantine, it’s not just that you go into your house and stay there ... the police or army would be there to ensure that you stay in your house.”
People are still contracting Ebola today.
Now living in Western Sydney, Peter said although COVID-19 reminds him of what he saw in Sierra Leone, he is feeling more resilient because of it.
“It made me more prepared because I knew what to expect,” he said.
Peter James with his wife and children. Source: Supplied
“I thought, ‘This will likely remove my freedom, I’m not going to be able to do things like I normally would’, so I was expecting that. It was not surprising for me.”
“What I am saying is, I’ve lived through this experience before.”
Peter’s experience also means he believes Australia will overcome the impacts of COVID-19.
“The positive side is I know that this is going to pass. All I need to do is to do what is right as much as possible and wait until it passes,” he said.
Melbourne-based clinical psychologist Kenan Rahmanovic provides support for people who have lived through war and trauma. He says it is not uncommon for some to feel more resilient as they experience the impacts of COVID-19.
A police enforced quarantined home in Sierra Leone in 2015. Source: AP
“So far, I’ve seen two cohorts,” he said. “I've seen people who have gone through war, who have experienced a lack of food, and who are extremely triggered by what is happening. Then, on the other hand, I see people who have gone through similar experiences, who have essentially become more resilient as a result, who are seeing this in a way of, ‘I know what to do in this situation’.”
Peter is currently completing his PhD in public health at the University of Technology in Sydney, but his mind is never far from his homeland, especially as COVID-19 reaches Sierra Leone.
Peter is currently studying a PhD in Sydney. Source: Supplied
“My family, especially my kids, are back home, so because of that I am a little bit worried about what will happen to them,” he said.
“For us, the anxiety is expected because it’s not just our personal health here, but all the safety of the relatives back home.”
“But as I’ve said, we’ve been exposed to a lot of adverse happenings before, so we’ve been developing our resilience a lot and our social network is strong.”
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others and gatherings are limited to two people unless you are with your family or household.
If you believe you may have contracted the virus, call your doctor (don’t visit) or contact the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080. If you are struggling to breathe or experiencing a medical emergency, call 000.
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