By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Sierra Leone’s National Coronavirus Response Center (NaCOVERC) has acknowledged the decision of the British Government to put Sierra Leone on a red list of countries with greater risk of Covid19 based on a risk assessment the British authorities conducted. The new measures instituted by London come into effect on Monday 19 July 2021. However, NaCOVERC Communication Lead, Solomon Jamiru said the action is quite unsettling especially when commercial flights had resumed and a lot of things have opened up within the context of COVID-19 all over the world.
Speaking at the government’s weekly press briefing on Thursday 15 July, Jamiru said the situation is due to the recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases recorded with the emergence of the third wave of the pandemic. He therefore called on the nation to observe the COVID-19 preventives measures.
“Much as we believe there is no fundamental difference between the COVID-19 situation in Sierra Leone and a good number of countries that are not on the red list, and for that reason, we believe that the basis for the determination will be very unfounded, arbitrarily designed more so when Sierra Leone was a safe haven, Sierra Leone never took a step to black list or red list or ban flights from countries that were experiencing the worst,” he said.
He added: “I believe some Sierra Leoneans are beginning to call on reciprocity because for all of us, it is our responsibility to protect our people.”
Cuba, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sierra Leone add to the 60-strong red list of countries that come with the tightest rules in terms of travelling into the United Kingdom. This is according to the travelling guide from the UK transport ministry.
“Sierra Leone is currently on the amber list. Will move to red list 4am, Monday 19 July. If you arrive in England after then you need to follow the red list rules,” it reads.
It added: “If you have been in a country or territory on the red list in the last 10 days you will only be allowed to enter the UK if you are a British or Irish National, or you have residence rights in the UK.”
It went on to note that on arrival in England you must quarantine in a managed hotel, including proof of two COVID-19 test results.
“You should not travel to red list countries or territories,” it warned.
The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention had also placed Sierra Leone on level four which means highly risky in terms of COVID infection. NaCOVERC has said that the country hopes to achieve strong immunity as it looks forward to vaccinating 80 percent of the country’s population of about 5 million people.
As a way of addressing the situation, the government recently tightened the COVID-19 prevention and protective measures like the enforcement of the use of facemask, limiting public gathering, mass vaccination and intensifying survilance. Jamiru noted that this move has made significant progress in the reduction of the number of cases.
“The week immediately prior to his Excellency’s broadcast; we had a total of 523 confirmed cases. Once his Excellency made the broadcast announcing a wide range of intervention to suppress the third wave, the cases came down from 523 weekly, to 292 which represented 94% drop in cases”, Jamiru noted. He said there has been a drop in cases weekly and positivity had gone below 5%. The Mano River Union (MRU), a sub-regional bloc consisting of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Ivory Coast has also been alerted to the spate of new infections. Authorities in Liberia are of the notion that the rise in cases in the country is being precipitated by the Alpha variant first discovered in Britain. Another strain of the same variant is under investigation in the country as cases continue to rise.
The MRU has reported over 300 cases in the past couple of days with over 750 cumulative deaths.
Authorities in the said countries are in fear of a serious health crisis if this trend continues. Health systems in the MRU are weak with many lacking proper access to health care systems, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Copyright © Politico Online (16/07/21)
