MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberia has recently been swamped with rumors of renewed Ebola outbreaks after more than 75 days of being declared of the epidemic by the World Health Organization.
The government’s silence on the issue only fueled suspicions that the rumors were true.
The head of the Incident Management System team, Tolbert Nyenswah, finally broke the silence on Thursday. “I want to inform the public that information is false and has no basis of truth,†Nyenswah said.
He made these remarks in Monrovia while journalists toured the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town.
“Liberia remains free from the deadly Ebola disease,” he said. However, he cautioned businessmen to be careful while trading along the border because Sierra Leone and Guinea were still reporting cases of the Ebola virus.
“We cannot say that we are totally free until they too are free,” he said.
As a government precaution, Nyenswah stated that currently, there is a high level of surveillance at the borders of Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Dominic Rennie, the Chief Administrator of Redemption Hospital, assured the public of the health services at the Hospital. “We are still maintaining all of those preventive measures here at Redemption Hospital to ensure that our people are safe,†Rennie stated.
He said that the hospital would continue to provide services to the public. However, he advised patients “to be sincere in answering questions posed to them by the doctors.’’
Mohammed Sankor, the Chief Medical Doctor, pointed out that free services remained a priority at the hospital. He said the hospital would continue to provide free healthcare services to the people and residents of Liberia until mandated by the Ministry of Health to start charging for services.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Government is urging Liberia to remain vigilant, saying the threat of a renewed Ebola outbreak remains in West Africa. Washington wants Liberia to stay on the alert until all neighboring countries reach the equivalent of Liberia’s Ebola eradication milestone.
Featured image courtesy of UNMEER
