-Health Ministry, NPHIL, Partners Warn Liberians
By Mark N. Mengonfia,mmenginfia@gmail.com
The Liberians government has announced through its Ministry of Health and National Public Health Institute (NPHIL) that the country is free of the Coronavirus, but has warned the public to take safety measures to prevent any outbreak in the country.
This comes as Chinese authorities announced that at least 41 people have died so far from the Coronavirus.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause respiratory illnesses such as the common cold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to health experts, most people get infected with coronaviruses at one point in their lives, but symptoms are typically mild to moderate.
Addressing a press conference at the weekend (Friday, January 24, 2020) in the Congo Town suburb of Monrovia, the acting director of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia, Dr. Mosoka Fallah said, after doing their rack management analyst, as an institution and government they have instituted measures which to carry on rigorous screening at international entrance points of Liberia.
He indicated that they have increased surveillance at the Roberts International Airport, the Free Port of Monrovia as well as other major points of entrance in Liberia.
The NPHIL boss said that since other countries including United States, Japan, North Korea and others have exported cases and the virus proves to be dangerous, and claiming lives, it was important that they inform the Liberian population on how to conduct themselves as they travel as means of preventing the contact of the deadly virus.
“Liberians can travel to China and other parts of the world,” adding that it is likely that they come in contract with affect persons while on their business travels. He said the signs are fever and cold.
The Public Health Institute of Liberia boss indicated that at the RIA, the government has secured three major hospitals including Du-Side ELWA and Redemption to serve as points to hinder any case of the Coronavirus in case of outbreak.
He wants Liberians to serve as security for each other by reporting case traveler or business personnel who returned in Liberian in December of last year or recently and showing signs of frequent fever and cold.
According to him, it is better to absolute just an individual rather than allowing a population to encounter such illness.
The Liberian health authorities have at the same time encouraged Liberians to make use of constant hand washing so as to prevent any outbreak.
The public Health acting boss giving a background of the virus said that the outbreak of the Coronavirus started in Wuhan, a city of 11 million and the capital of Hubei Province adding that it has claimed about 6 lives now over three hundred persons affected.
In central China, authorities on Friday greatly expanded a travel lockdown to include 12 cities near the center of the outbreak, effectively penning in 35 million residents nearly the population of Canada in an effort to contain the dangerous virus.
The rapidly expanding outbreak has overwhelmed the Chinese province’s hospitals and fueled fears of a global pandemic. Chinese health officials reported on Friday that there had been 26 deaths from the outbreak and 830 cases of the coronavirus, a sharp increase.
The virus has sickened more than 800 people in Asia and at least one person in the United States.
The Friday press conference was addressed by representatives from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health (MOH), and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia(NPHIL).