By Alpha Abu
Sierra Leone’s National Coronavirus Response Centre’s (NaCOVERC) Chairman, Dr Sheku Bangura has challenged the UK’s Placement of Sierra Leone on the red list with stringent travel restrictions which came into effect on Monday 19th July 2021, noting that emerging data from Sierra Leone does not position the country to have reached the “Red Stage” of the Covid pandemic.
At a press conference called by the leadership of NaCOVERC at the Ministry of Information and Communication in Freetown on Wednesday 21st July 2021, Dr. Bangura said it was a UK decision but stated they will be sharing data with their British counterparts and would explore the possibility of a review of that action.
He gave a picture indicating a significant drop in the number of cases in the last few weeks, following President Julius Maada Bio’s announcement on 1st July 2021 of renewed restrictions, after the month of June recorded the highest number of positive cases since the first case of the virus was recorded on 31st March 2020.
He said the country is “bending the curve on the third wave”, as a result of the increased vaccination rate and the restrictive measures in place. He also pointed out that the country has been hitting the single digit for a couple of days now with a below 2% positivity rate which is NaCOVERC’s set threshold, and were confident that such a development should be maintained.
It was disclosed that of a recently recorded 1,340 positive cases, 1,209 were found not to have taken any of the vaccines, with 26 having taken one dose and 8 having completed the two doses, indicating that overwhelming cases of positive were from the unvaccinated.
The experts stated that Sierra Leone was well ahead of other neighbouring countries in the area of surveillance, having learnt from the Ebola outbreak and was the last country in the sub-region to have covid-19 because of enhanced surveillance.
NaCOVERC’s Operations Coordinator Group Captain, Hassan Coomber spoke of robust testing mechanisms at various points of entry into the country, and the engagement and enforcing measures being used by the institution.
He admitted that denial remains a challenge and said they will be approaching the Police with their existing community outreach programmes, to assist in getting the people to fully understand the true nature and existence of the virus.
It was revealed that doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were no longer available and that new supplies will be in the country in early August this year. On the situation of those persons that are awaiting the second and final dosage of that vaccine, the experts stressed they would still be fine having it a month later than the two months regulated period in-between doses. Presently available are doses of Sinopharm vaccine which they say can now be administered on people beyond the earlier age limit of 60.
NaCOVERC spokesman and Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Solomon Jamiru urged all to jealously guard the process of fighting the pandemic with transparency and honesty. There are currently six test laboratories operating, and four of these are in the Western Area, with one each in Kenema and Makeni.
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