By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
A new report launched by the governance think tank, Institute for Governance Report (IGR), has shown that Sierra Leone is better placed to deal with the ongoing global outbreak of the Coronavirus compared to the Ebola outbreak five years ago.
The report titled: “Maintaining Our Zero” is a snappy study that was done by IGR in 48 hours to gauge knowledge, understand attitudes and the general sense of readiness among 500 respondents across three districts in the Sierra Leone.
The study was conducted in the Western Urban, Western Rural and Port Loko districts. Some of the communities visited by enumerators were Waterloo, Moa Wharf, Susan’s Bay and Lungi.
Executive Director of IGR, Andrew Lavalie, said the country’s experience in the fight against Ebola is an asset in preventing Coronavirus.
“From what we have seen is that people seem to be well prepared and we have a good experience from our fight against Ebola,” he said.
Speaking on the report, Lavalie said: “This is not a scorecard, it is a diagnostic study where we point things out. What we have done is to present a balanced report of what we think government is doing well and whether we think they are falling short.”
The report comes just a day after government announced new measures to prevent the outbreak from reaching or spreading in Sierra Leone.
As of Tuesday, Sierra Leone is the only country in the Mano River basin that hasn’t recorded a case of the virus.
A statement from State House on Monday barred public gatherings of more than 100 people, barred government officials from travelling out of the country, and advised people to start practicing social distancing.
This comes in addition to a raft of other measures that were announced last week Friday by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
On Monday, President Julius Maada Bio also met with former officials who spear headed the country’s fight against the Ebola epidemic.
IGR’s report concluded that almost 99% of the respondents know about the Coronavirus. Some 90% of those respondents can also recognize at least a symptom of the Coronavirus.
Lavalie said: “leaders should take advantage of the level of awareness.”
The study focuses on questions like, whether there is an emergency plan. What should be done in terms of mobilization?
The report also highlights that there are still knowledge gaps that should be addressed to help ensure a proper response.
“If there is a janitor and someone gets infected, the janitor should know what to do,” he said.
Some figures in the report also highlights deep misconceptions that are still held by some people concerning the virus.
Some 41% of respondents believe that the virus is man made, 11% believe the virus cannot affect black people, while around 20% believe religious leaders can heal the virus. Some 1.4% believe that witches can cause the virus.
Copyright © 2020 Politico Online
