MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberia has gone 25 days without any new Ebola case reported in its second countdown to being declared Ebola-free.

The head of the Incident Management System team, Tolbert Nyenswah, said that Liberia has less than 20 days before being declared Ebola free as specified by the World Health Organization.

After having initially gone 28 days without a new Ebola case, the country faced a setback when on March 25, a Liberian tested positive for the virus and subsequently died.

Nyenswah said that all contacts from that case have completed their 21 days of follow up.

According to the United Nations Mission on Ebola Emergency Response, the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the three most affected Ebola hit countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone has declined.

Nyenswah said, “Guinea currently has the highest rate while the cases in Sierra Leone have decreased and Liberia remains at zero.’’

However, Nyenswah said that the surveillance system and border coordination team is rolling up implementation for effective border surveillance at the countries formal and informal crossing points.

Nyenswah added that things are returning to normal.

“Today, we see airlines that left our shores are returning, schools are reopened and we are making progress with our market borders,” Nyenswah said.

Furthermore, Nyenswah said surviving the virus and transitioning back to normal life is a critical issue that needs to be addressed and the Incident Management System team is making every effort to ensure survivor networks are strong.

As Liberia works towards being Ebola free, Nyenswah called on communities and families of survivors to come together to combat the virus. He emphasized that these survivors are heroes and should not be stigmatized for surviving a deadly disease.

Featured image courtesy of European Commission