By Umaru Fofana
The New Year has begun where the dying days of the last left off: Sierra Leone has witnessed a spike in the number of new Covid19 cases prompting many to call it “the second wave”.
From the daily single digit infections being reported at some point in November and early December, the first half of January has recorded 335 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 2,970, as at Saturday 16 January.
The whole of December last year recorded only 194 cases of the virus.
Freetown and its environs are leading the chat, again, recording 301 of the new cases in the first half of January, and accounting for 1,941 of the cumulative total since the virus was confirmed in the country in late March 2020.
Passengers entering the country account for 21 of the new cases this year (85 in total). Pujehun in the south has recorded four – the highest in the provinces so far this year, while Kambia has recorded two new cases.
Port Loko and Bonthe have each recorded two cases; while Bo, Bombali and Kono have one new case each, according to figures released by NaCOVERC.
It is not clear why the new numbers but many have attributed the spike to the fact that many people are not respecting the Covid19 restrictions, with large gatherings commonplace, wearing of face masks disregarded and even the handwashing culture having dissipated.
The NaCOVERC spokesman, Solomon Jamiru has attributed the increased numbers to “community transmission and the threat from outside”.
He said the festive season of Christmas and New Year had also worsened the community transmission, adding that it would take another two months or so before the country returned to single digits.
He said people travelling out of the country were returning more positive results than those arriving. He urged the public to practise social distancing, use a face mask and practise personal hygiene including handwashing.
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