The Press Union of Liberia has sent out words of solidarity to Radio Tappita after its journalist tested positive for coronavirus in the northeastern region of Nimba County.
Press Union of Liberia, President Charles B. Coffey, Jr. in a message to journalists particularly in Nimba admonished media practitioners to be cautious during the coverage of COVID-19 Pandemic.
Mr. Coffey urged journalists to stay safe while observing approved National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) COVID-19 prevention protocol and use masks at all times during the discharge of their duties.
The Union asserted that social distancing, use of disinfectants on equipment including recorders before and after interviews by journalists all across Liberia must be part of the abundance of cautions employ if the virus is to be contained within the sixty days instituted by the state.
Health workers on Sunday, April 19, 2020 informed the Voice of Tappita journalist that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He told the Press Union of Liberia that the Jackson F. Doe Referral Hospital treated him for malaria and discharged him without being informed that his specimen was sent to Monrovia for COVID-19 test.
The journalist is one of several reporters who covered the emergence of COVID-19 in a village near Tippita in Nimba County. His colleagues at the Voice of Tappita are being quarantined while health authorities are tracing other contacts.
PUL Nimba County Coordinator Joseph Solo and Nimba County Community Radio Association (NICORA) President, Kennedy Domah are in contact with the Voice of Tappita Radio journalists in consultation with the Leadership of the PUL.