FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Even as his country registered 19 new Ebola cases over a 24-hour period, Sierra Leone’s president is predicting there will be zero new confirmed cases by the end of March.

President Ernest Bai Koroma also predicted that his West African country — one of three hardest hit by the outbreak — would be Ebola-free by World Health Organization standards by May. Koroma made this pronouncement during town hall meetings this week in the northern Districts of Port Loko, Tonkolili, and Bombali.

Sierra Leone’s southern Pujehun district has registered zero cases for more than 42 days, according to government statistics. By WHO standards, a country cannot be declared Ebola-free until it has registered no cases for 42 consecutive days.

Among the 19 new cases the government reported countrywide, at least eight were in and around the capital of Freetown. Sierra Leone has had about 900 cases in the past 21 days, according to WHO statistics, which also say nearly 3,000 people have died there since the emergence of Ebola.