Monrovia — The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Health Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah and the Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Jane Macauley to give update on Liberia’s standing against the fight of COVID-19.
The House’s decision derived from two separate communications from Representatives Thomas Goshua (District #5, Grand Bassa County) and Ivar Jones (District #1, Margibi County), seeking the indulgence of House to invite Dr. Jallah and Madam Macauley to appear before the Plenary to give a comprehensive status update on the fight against the virus.
The request was granted after a motion proffered by Rep. Solomon C. George (District #7, Montserrado County) mandating the health officials to appear on Thursday, June 17, 2021 was accepted.
The invitation of the two top health officials comes in the wake of a spike in cases of COVID-19 in recent days, and the announcement by the Incident Management System (IMS) that the variant B117 was now in the Liberia.
In his communication, Rep. Goshua said: “There are also information emanating from health authorities that they cannot account for a specific number of COVID-19 suspect cases. We believe that the sharp increase of covid-19 cases and the unaccounted number of suspected cases is very worrisome and if we do not tackle the issue immediately, we could retrogress our current effort to combat this disease.”
He continued: “In view of the foregoing, I write the plenary to request the appropriate authorities from the MOH and NPHIL to provide a comprehensive status update on the fight against covid-19 in the country.”
B117, the coronavirus variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in December last year.
The IMS reported 31 confirmed cases have been reported as of June 13 after testing 211 samples. And of these 31 confirmed cases, 26 were outgoing travelers.
This week recorded the highest number of cases in a single week since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country – 202, according to official data.
Cumulatively, the IMS reported that Liberia has now confirmed 2,484 cases after testing 111, 939 samples from onset of the outbreak. And from January 2021 to date, a total of 566 cases are confirmed.
The breakdown of cases shows that on the 9th of June: 350 samples were tested with 71 confirmed cases; while on June 10, 211 samples were tested with 31 confirmed cases.
The number of patients admitted at the Star base was put at 31; most of them in severe form. Six deaths are recorded this week (two at the treatment center and four in other referral hospitals in Monrovia.
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