By Lamin Idriss Conteh (Cazorla)
The WHO Country Representative, Dr. Steven Shongwe says Sierra Leone is one of the countries in the world with a relatively low incidence of deaths due to the coronavirus.
He made this statement at the WHO Head Office in Freetown during a handing-over ceremony of some laboratory equipment donated by the German International Development agency, GIZ.
Some of the laboratory testing kits include 40,000 PCR kits; 40,000 PCR probes and primers; 1,500 extraction kits; 60,000 sample collection kits; and some rapid diagnostic testing kits amounting to 10,000.
Dr Shongwe said that there were more supplies to come and some of them would be delivered on this week, while the remaining would be delivered early next year.
He commended the efforts of GIZ and extended his appreciation to the German government for their support to WHO. He said there were over 75 Million cases of Covid-19 reported globally, with 1.6 million deaths. He noted that in Africa, some countries that were having low COVID-19 cases had started getting higher cases, and South Africa was one of those countries.
“We are very pleased that in Sierra Leone the situation remains stable and under control. As of 17 December, there were 2,464 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and sadly there were 75 deaths,” he stated, adding: “At least the situation remains stable as compared to other countries of the world.”
Dr Shongwe went on to say that based on surveillance data, three out of the country’s 16 districts had reported COVID-19 cases over the last seven days.
According to the laboratory data, the positivity rate is 0.8% and the bed occupancy is 2.6%.
The WHO representative reiterated that the positivity rate and the bed occupancy remained consistently low over a period, which he said showed there was a correlation. He added that with these positive signs in the fight against the pandemic in Sierra Leone, they were confident to succeed.
He advised that the public should remain vigilant regardless of these signs. He also advised people to follow preventive measures, like washing of hands frequently, using face masks, avoiding large crowds, and also to visit hospitals whenever one started to experience some of the COVID-19 signs. He also suggested that testing capacities should be expanded to detect the virus.
The WHO boss advised that young people should not disregard the seriousness of the virus, noting that they had had cases of young adults dying of it. He concluded that though the world had produced vaccines for the virus, people should not rely on it wholeheartedly and instead they should continue to adhere to the preventive measures.
The GIZ Country Director, Christian Widmann, said that they would continue to support WHO in terms of medical assistance. He said this was just the first batch of supplies that had been delivered, with more to come.
Mr Widman said they had been in longstanding partnership with WHO when in the area of health assistance, recalling that during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak GIZ also played its part to see that the epidemic was eradicated.
The Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Thomas T. Samba, extended his appreciation on behalf of the Ministry to GIZ and WHO for their support in these trying times.
He said: “Fortunately, Sierra Leone was the last country in the sub-region to get a COVD-19 case…The fact that people are dying is a cause for concern no matter how small the number is.”
Dr Samba added that following the Ebola epidemic that caused suffering to Sierra Leoneans, the Ministry of Health had been working relentlessly with other development partners to build its health system. He said these testing kits would help them to do their task efficiently and effectively.
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