By Bill W. Cooper
The Chief Medical Officer of Liberia, Dr. Francis Ketteh has revealed that the country presently has three confirmed and suspected cases at the 14 Military Hospital Isolation Center on the Roberts International Airfield Highway awaiting testing results.
Addressing the Ministry of Health (MoH), National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) and the Ministry of Information joint press update on the virus at the MoH, Dr. Ketteh said that as it stands, health authorities have now tested 69 samples, 34 of which the 69 sample results are expected.
Liberia’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ketteh indicated that they are now doing follow ups on a total contacted listed persons of 390, adding that of that number, 40 are said to be health workers while the other 229 are being observed by health authorities.
According to him, the government is now running eleven Precautionary Observation Centers that have been split, ranging from Pot One to Pot Eleven, and emphasized that from these pots, they have been able to graduate 234 persons.
He added that those who were graduated were placed in various categories ranging from pot one with 84, pot two 60, pot three 48, pot four 14, pot five 18, pot six 10 and pot seven, eight, nine, and eleven are all 0, noting that others who are currently under observation are 165, as pot one 19, pot two 6, pot three 14, pot four 16, pot five 0, pot six 0, pot seven 49, pot eight 28, pot nine 4 and pot eleven 29.
Commenting on other issues, Dr. Ketteh has also disclosed that as of yesterday, they have already started training some doctors, nurses and Pas, and that the training offered includes IPC and kids management, adding that though training was done during the EBOLA crisis but as for the Coronavirus, it is somehow a bit different from the EBOLA situation.
He said that Dr. Jerry Brown and Dr. Gonpu Ballah are the trainers who were sent to Brazzaville to be trained in order to be able to impart knowledge to other Liberian doctors, nurses and others, averring, “After the training, we will be able to deploy in Montserrado and other counties along the border, so that in case of any eventuality, we will have the recursive individual to make sure our people are protected.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Ketteh is urging citizens not to keep the nose masks on for 24/7. He said if the mask is kept on for that long, there is need for anyone to be affected from other bacteria, asserting that it is only advisable that citizens wear the masks when they are going in a congested area.
In another development, Health Minister, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah has clarified that contrary to reports about five representatives, Smauel G. Korga, Francis Dopoe along with other lawmakers who recently came into the country, as two were tested positive of the COVID-19, is “false, misleading and far from the truth.”
According to Dr. Jallah, the five representatives did come from Ghana through the border and that the health authorities are in constant contact with all five of them, stressing, “The reason why they are not in the quarantine centers like others, is because Ghana was not on our list of countries to quarantine people upon their arrival into the country.”
She added that, she communicated with all five of them and asked them to do self-isolation for their own good and as well as the good of the country, adding that five of them all consented and as such, she is the one that calls them every day, as the medical team is also checking on them regularly.
Dr. Jallah also clarified that the report about health workers issuing vaccines to children is not like that as being speculated in the public by many, because the vaccination process was a routine vaccination for Measles and Polio vaccines.
The MoH Minister further stated that because of all the misunderstandings about the virus, the MoH has now decided to cancel the campaign and will only be giving the vaccines to citizens within the various health vicinities.
0