By Politico staff writer
The Bo District COVID-19 Emergency Response Centre has in a media alert expressed concern at the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities recorded in the district leading to a lack of bed capacity at the COVID centers.
“We have also learned with dismay that most of the corpses with severe respiratory illnesses are not swabbed before burial. The bed holding capacities in most health centres in Bo are also now exhausted,” the statement reads.
The statement noted that the deadly Delta variant has been discovered in the district and that Serabu village is now the epicenter or hotspot for COVID-19 in the district.
“With 141 cumulative confirmed cases, we have 10 active cases attributable to the deadly Delta variant.”
However, as a way of addressing the current situation and with reference to the new COVID 19 measures imposed by President Julius Maada Bio, the Bo DiCOVERC noted that it would convene an emergency district stakeholders meeting with Administrative Heads of both private and Public Health Centres at its command center in Bo.
And that all suspicious deaths in all health centres shall be swabbed before burial, a joint monitoring team comprising the Sierra Leone Police and DiCOVERC’s Operations team shall be deployed at major checkpoints to ensure strict adherence to the Presidential directives and all other COVID-19 protocols, including proof of vaccination.
“Funeral homes including the Bo Government mortuary shall be used for religious rituals for dead relatives prior to interment with not more than 50 people in attendance. Graduation ceremonies, March pass, cross country et al; with super spreader tendencies remained banned,” the statement reads.
A nation-wide 11pm -5am one month curfew comes into force this Monday 5 July 2021. This was announced by President Julius Maada Bio during an address to the nation last Friday, in reaction to the third wave of the pandemic, which has seen a rise in positive cases over the past four weeks. The President has ordered that travelling between districts must be allowed to only persons with certified vaccination document. Church and Mosque prayers are banned and weddings and funerals limited to only 50 persons. Up to Saturday 2 July 2021, 104 people have died from the 5,748 positive cases.
Copyright © 05/07/21 Politico Online
