By Mabinty M. Kamara
Sierra Leone has recorded its worst monthly new infections of the coronavirus disease since the pandemic was confirmed in the country in late March 2020.
Official figures from NACOVERC show that 982 cases were recorded between 1 and 31 January, surpassing by far the May 2020 record of 737 cases.
Western Area Urban and Rural lead the chart with total confirmed cases of 2,004 and 467 respectively.
The alarming rate of daily new infections in Freetown and its environs witnessed in the first half of January led to the introduction of stringent measures to avoid more infections into the other areas of the country which have been relatively stable in terms daily new cases.
It has also left many wondering as to what could have been the cause of the sudden increase with some blaming it on the influx of Diasporas during the festive season.
However, Sierra Leone’s COVID-19 Spokesman, Solomon Jamiru told Politico that indeed January had recorded the highest number of cases so far in the pandemic.
He said the response team was very concerned over the increased numbers, saying it could not be unconnected to the activities of the festive season late last year during which many asymptomatic patients could have interacted with those not infected.
Jamiru also said the soaring numbers could be attributed to the fact that the testing scope had been broadened due to the compulsory testing taking place for people such as traders and essential workers allowed to travel outside Freetown during the current restrictions on movement to the provinces.
“This indicates to us the fact that if we could broaden the scope of testing, then we tend to record more positive cases. So that could be the explanation. The other variable that we are yet to make a determination on, as whether this could be attributable to the variant coronavirus,” the COVID19 spokesman went on.
He added: “We are still waiting on the technical team to advise us on the collaborations they have with the Chinese Medical team to tell us what their findings are in trying to do the sequence matching so they are yet to get back to us, so we can’t at this time competently say that this aggressive transmission is also linked to the fact that we have the new strain.”
Asked how much increase there had been in testing compared to previous months, Jamiru said they had to check the data for that but assumed that January must have recorded the most tests.
On whether the increased numbers of new infections would occasion an extension of the current restrictions notably the blockading of Freetown from the countryside, he said if new infection numbers were used as the sole determinant then it followed they would be extended beyond the 7 February end date. But if socioeconomic considerations were taken into account, then they might be eased depending on the impact on livelihood.
Since the pandemic was confirmed in Sierra Leone the country has recorded a total of 3,593 cases, 79 of whom have died.
With the first case recorded on March 31st , April recorded 124 cases, May 737, June 601, July 361, August 203, September 205, October 135, November 46 , December 199 and January 982 which happens to be the highest for now.
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