When COVID-19 reached Sierra Leone, the government responded by implementing strict containment measures. While the effectiveness of such actions has been debated, the socioeconomic and political implications were undeniable. This qualitative study reveals that people suffered tremendously from economic insecurity, strains on social relationships, and civil rights violations, prompting many to perceive the COVID-19 pandemic as worse than the 2014–15 Ebola epidemic. These hardships have driven distrust of the government, which threatens continuing mitigation efforts. Using a feminist global health security frame, which recenters the protection of vulnerable individuals in relation to the state, we call for more contextually-relevant, civil society-informed pandemic responses.

当 COVID-19 抵达塞拉利昂时，政府采取了严格的遏制措施作为应对措施。虽然此类行动的有效性存在争议，但其社会经济和政治影响是不可否认的。这项定性研究表明，人们因经济不安全、社会关系紧张和侵犯公民权利而遭受巨大痛苦，促使许多人认为 COVID-19 大流行比 2014-15 年埃博拉疫情更严重。这些困难引发了对政府的不信任，威胁到持续的缓解努力。利用女权主义全球卫生安全框架，将弱势群体的保护置于与国家相关的中心位置，我们呼吁采取更加切合实际、民间社会知情的流行病应对措施。