FORPOH, Grand Kru – The Grand Kru County Health Team has recorded its second confirmed Coronavirus case, in addition to announcing that there are 13 high-risk contacts.

Dr. Sianna Jackson Mentoe, the county health officer, said Grand Kru’s second confirmed case is a 55-year-old male patient who tested positive for the virus on April 16.

The Coronavirus patient, whose identity has been withheld by health authorities, is a resident of Chengbateen community in Forpoh Statutory District.

“I am calling on every citizen within the county and in affected communities, including suspected patients, to work in close collaboration with health workers as they are willing and prepared to work in line with the locals to help fight the further spread of the menace,” Dr. Mentoe addressed the public on a Barclayville radio station on Friday when she announced the case.

“We all know that Forpoh was an area in Grand Kru that was one of the worst affected areas in the county during the 2014 Ebola epidemic and health authorities want to ensure that the Coronavirus pandemic does not cause a recurrence of this situation.”

She also asked that community members should not threaten health care workers who are moving through communities to trace contacts. She also urged the public to follow all required preventative measures and to maintain proper social distance. Additionally, Mentoe asked that anyone who had come in touch with the confirmed case report themselves to the county health team.

Meanwhile, health authorities have confirmed to The Bush Chicken that 7 Ghanaians, 12 Chinese, and 3 Liberians are still under precautionary observation at the Rally Time Hospital in Grand Cess. They are related to the first Coronavirus patient from Grand Kru, who only tested positive after traveling to Monrovia and then dying. He was a Ghanaian who worked for a Chinese mining company in Forpoh Statutory District as a mechanic.

Grand Kru is one of the four counties where residents will be required to stay at home, as per the state of emergency issued by the president.

Liberia now has 101 confirmed Coronavirus cases, including 8 deaths.