Doctors treating coronavirus patients in Sierra Leone will go on strike within 24 hours after the government failed to pay promised allowances, their union said on Wednesday.

The Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association said in a statement the strike would continue until the allowances are paid in full, without specifying how much the doctors are owed.

Doctors treating patients for conditions other than COVID-19 will continue to show up to work, it said.

Government officials could not be reached for comment.

Sierra Leone has recorded 1,462 cases of the virus, including 60 deaths, far fewer than many other West African countries despite its fragile health infrastructure.

The union also complained that a memorandum of understanding between the government and doctors working in COVID-19 isolation and treatment centres expired on Tuesday and has not been renewed.

Health workers in Sierra Leone went on strike several times during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, which killed nearly 4,000 people in the country.