-As Liberia’s confirmed Coronavirus cases shoot up to 73
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Liberia’s southeastern Rivercess County has recorded its first suspected case of Coronavirus, but the patient has not been able to survive, the County’s Health Officer of Rivercess County, Dr.Joseph Topoe has disclosed.
Dr. Topoe said earlier on Thursday, April 16, 2020, that the suspected case was diagnosed about 10pm late Wednesday night at the St. Francis referral hospital in the County’s capital, Cesstos.
Rivercess is over 306 kilometers from Monrovia.
In a telephone interview with www.newspublictrust.com said the 20-year-old man was detected by a community health worker and later picked up by the ambulance to the referral hospital in Cesstos City.
The Rivercess County health officer explained that after the man was taken to the referral hospital, he was tested and came down with the symptoms of COVID-19.
According to Dr. Topoe, the specimen of the suspected case was taken to Monrovia shortly and the 20-year-old was in Isolation in the morning hours of Thursday.
But latest reports from Rivercess County say the suspected COVID-19 patient has died in this southeastern county.
The head of the County’s Health team says the 20-year-old man died earlier this afternoon just past 1 PM GMT.
Liberia has now recorded 73 confirmed cases with six deaths and several others suspected cases awaiting laboratory result by the National Public Health Institute of Liberia.