By Francis H. Murray
Dr. Steven Velabo Shongwe the WHO Country Representative in Sierra Leone has urged the government and its development partners to strengthen public health and safety measures in a bid to defeat the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made this statement on Tuesday 26th January during the handing over ceremony of medical equipment by the organization to the government of Sierra Leone. He said in the wake of the sudden spike in the number of confirmed positive cases of the pandemic in the New Year, it was a clear indication that the country was experiencing a second wave of the virus which he said called for the strengthening and enforcement of public health and social measures.
“The key message is that we need to strengthen the public health and social measures. We need to wear the face masks and make sure we wear them properly, we need to make sure that there’s enforcement of the wearing of facemasks in public, we also need to wash our hands regularly or use sanitizer, we need to avoid crowded places and where there are large gatherings,’’ he warned.
Dr. Shongwe said surveillance data indicate that as at Monday 25th January 2021, the country had recorded 3,173 confirmed cases of COVID-9, with 77 deaths and a total of 2,222 recoveries and that on Monday alone, the country recorded 32 new cases of the virus with the majority of them arising from the Western Area which had twenty cases and a daily positivity rate of 7.3.
Expressing confidence in the country’s leadership, its medical team and surveillance mechanisms, the WHO Country Rep expressed optimism that the country will overcome the second wave of COVID 19.
The UN Resident Coordinator Dr Babatunde Ahonsi described the occasion as a “testimony to the values of South-South and trilateral coordination” which he said was built on multiple partnerships. He said the need for increase in personal protective medical equipment for health care workers came as a result of a request made by the Ministry of Health through the UN around August of 2020 to support the nation’s COVID-19 response team.
He added that the country’s Resident Coordinator reached out to the Resident Coordinator in China to look for a willing institution in China that would donate the PPE’s, adding that the Guokong Health Management Corporation Ltd. offered to donate the equipment with export facilitation provided by Alibaba Foundation in China.
Dr. Ahonsi further stated that even though the country requested for 80,000 facemasks, the donor responded with a total of 99,000 which he said pointed to the relevance of South-South Corporation.
The items also included 24 oxygen concentrators and 256 spare part kits, 262 nasal oxygen cannula for adults, 262 nasal oxygen cannula for adults pediatric, 524 venturi masks, blood pressure extraction tube amounting to over $101,095.
He added that if the global challenge posed by the pandemic should be overcome, there was need for the incorporation of global solutions and international solidarity.
Receiving the medical equipment on behalf of the government, Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr. Amara Jambai praised the gesture, citing that such donations have been helpful to the health sector in ensuring that the fight against COVID-19 did not distort the fight against other equally terminal diseases such as malaria, Cancer and TB.
He added that the country had put in place resilient health systems that are working even at the time of emergencies which he said was because of the efforts of the government with support from UN agencies and other partners.
The Chief medical officer Dr. Thomas Samba used the occasion to thank WHO and its partners for what he referred to as their uninterrupted support to the country’s health sector, and called for continued cooperation amongst them.
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to China Ernest Ndomahina said a global approach to the fight against the pandemic was strategic, noting that the China-Sierra Leone friendship has been fruitful with great prospects in the future.
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