FREETOWN/BERLIN: Sierra Leone began the second day of a 72-hour nationwide shutdown aimed at containing the spread of the deadly Ebola virus on Saturday amid criticism that the action was a poorly planned publicity stunt.

Most of Sierra Leone’s six million people have been confined to their homes from midnight (0000 GMT) on Friday, with only essential workers such as health professionals and security forces exempt.

Almost 30,000 volunteers are going door-to-door to educate locals and hand out soap, in an exercise expected to lead to scores more patients and bodies being discovered in homes.

But independent observers have voiced concerns over the quality of advice being given out, deeming the shutdown a “mixed success” in the Western Area, the region that includes the capital Freetown.

“While the supervisors were well trained, the visiting teams to families in some parts in the Western Area had poor training and could not deliver the information properly,” said Abubakarr Kamara, from the Health for All Coalition, a local charity.

Germany says it plans to work with France to establish airlifts to Ebola-affected countries. The Foreign Ministry said late Friday that 100 soldiers and two military planes will initially be provided for the operation, which might use Dakar in Senegal as a hub.

Germany also plans to help set up field hospitals, provide military equipment and conduct training for medical staff in West Africa.

So far, Berlin hasn’t offered to send a large contingent of doctors or nurses to treat Ebola patients in West Africa, but about half a dozen medical experts from Germany are already in the region.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly on Friday that the UN’s new force to fight Ebola, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, or UNMEER, will be headquartered in Accra, Ghana and will have offices in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“The mission will ... emphasize community outreach, training and education,” Ban said. “Misunderstandings about the disease and how it is transmitted have hindered the response. Local leaders, including traditional and religious leaders, have important roles to play in raising awareness.”

In the latest case of violence against health care workers, six suspects have been arrested in the killings of eight people in Guinea who were on an Ebola education campaign, the Guinean government said Friday.

The victims were attacked by villagers armed with rocks and knives. The dead included three local journalists.