By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The District COVID-19 Emergency Response Center (DICOVERC) in Pujehun has informed Politico that a nurse has escaped quarantine since last Thursday, and that efforts to recover her were under way.
The Spokesperson for the DICOVERC, Mohamed Massaquoi, said on Tuesday that the nurse who had tested negative for the virus during the first 14 days period in quarantine was waiting for her third test result when she abandoned the quarantine center.
The female nurse had spent 22 days in total in quarantine.
As of Tuesday evening, Massaquoi said her test result was yet to come through.
“As per procedure, three tests are done for health workers who are suspected to have the virus. Those tests are done during and after the 14 days period. But the last test results were delayed by more than five days, so she escaped and we haven’t seen her since,” Massaquoi explained during a telephone interview from Pujehun Town.
Standard DICOVERC procedure states that tests results should not be delayed for more than 48 hours; this means people who are in quarantine should not spend more than 16 days without knowing their status, discharged or admitted as the case maybe.
Politico also understands that the nurse escaped with another woman, whose tests results have come through and is negative for the virus.
The DICOVERC’s capacity to track down cases like these has been seriously hampered after half of its core staff went in to quarantine two weeks ago, after a driver working with the center tested positive for the virus.
But all of the staff who had been quarantined were discharged on Tuesday, 25th August.
But Massaquoi said the search for the missing health worker and other operations have been going on smoothly.
“When we went into quarantine we appointed people to act on our behalf until we returned. So the District Medical Officer is basically in charge and they have been doing well,” said Massaquoi, who was himself one of the core DICOVERC staff that were quarantined last week.
Delay in test results have led to some form of mistrust in the country’s Covid-19 response. Throughout the pandemic, there have been numerous reports of people breaking quarantine as a result of frustration caused partly by delayed results.
As of Tuesday morning, Pujehu had recorded 26 cases. Authorities in the district are concerned that if the final test results for the nurse turns out to be positive, a new chain of transmission could spread and hamper efforts.
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