A professional medical group in Liberia, has made several recommendations to the Liberian government including the imposition of an immediate nationwide lockdown to stop the further spread of the new variant of the Covid19 in the Country.
In West Africa now, Liberia is reporting high increase in corona virus infection and death rate.
The Secretary General of the Liberia Medical and Dental Association, (LMDA) Dr. Moses Ziah told a News conference Monday, June 21,2021, that lockdown will enable health workers initiate massive contract tracing to halt the rapid spread of the virus within the population.
“The Government must seek all the help it can get from all sources to invest hugely in the health sector during this critical moment. Such investment has to be immediate as the situation is rapidly worsening across the Country”, said Dr. Ziah.
“ The Government through the Ministry of Health consider opening of additional isolation and treatment centers around the Country immediately since the current available facilities are rapidly running out of capacity and supplies to accommodate the increasing number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases”,Dr. Ziah proffers.
“We also recommend the isolation of all COVID-19 cases whether symptomatic or asymptomatic as was done during the first wave”.
“Considering our context, taking all cases from the Community will help in breaking the chain of transmission faster”.
“Government must ensure the protection of all Healthcare workers by supplying the needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in all facilities at all times”, Dr. Ziah emphasized.
“Lack of PPE will lead to increase infection amongst health workers causing panic and demotivation to others, thus undermining the entire fight against the disease.”
He called on the government to consider expending and decentralizing testing facilities to shorten turn-around time of COVID-19 results.
Dr. Ziah insisted that such intervention will help in confirming diagnosis fastest and immediately isolating positive cases.
He encouraged the government to collaborate with the private sector and ensure the validation of results through the National Reference Lab.
In recent time covid-19 cases have surged in Liberia, however, Dr. Ziah, on behalf of the Liberia Medical and Dental Association, urged government to secure sufficient supplies of vaccines to quickly vaccinate the entire population against the new variant of the virus.
Dr. Ziah emphasized the need for the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia to recruit the services of experts because Liberia cannot combat the virus.
The Liberian healthcare expert at the same time warned against playing politics with the lives of the Liberian people stressing the importance for the authorities to learned from previous experiences to improve the quality of response to the fight.
“Health Authorities must make deliberate efforts to improve community engagement as doing so will enhance compliance of community dwellers to the safety measures”, Dr. Ziah said.
“The Government should consider incorporating the Liberia Medical and Dental Association and other professional health organizations at the core of the response.”
Dr. Ziah however pledged his institution commitment to the fight against COVID-19 and called on the Liberian population to observe the Health Authorities prescribed safety measures.
