A health worker talks with residents on how to prevent the Ebola virus in Freetown, Sierra Leone on September 20, 2014.

Story highlights

More than 75% of the targeted 1.5 million households were contacted, officials say

Under the lockdown, no one was allowed to leave their homes for three days

The deadliest Ebola outbreak in history has killed at least 2,600 people

CNN  — 

Sierra Leone lifted Sunday a nationwide lockdown, which had been put in place to help stop the spread of Ebola.

Under the plan, no one was allowed to leave their homes for three days, allowing volunteers to go door-to-door educating people on the deadly virus.

More than 75% of the targeted 1.5 million households were contacted, according to the Health Ministry.

“The EOC (Emergency Operations Center) has officially ended the three day stay at home, but the Social Mobilization exercise will continue in those communities that have been identified as hot spots across the country,” it said in a statement.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak in history has killed at least 2,600 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – the countries most affected by the virus – since the first case was documented in December.

The virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids, and early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat.

The virus is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), where one of the first outbreaks occurred in 1976.

INTERACTIVE: Life inside the Ebola outbreak

READ: Can the world stop Ebola?

CNN’s Faith Karimi, Chelsea J. Carter and Radina Gigova contributed to this report.