Ebola kills 41 in Nimba

A Nimba County Senator has disclosed that the deadly Ebola has killed 41 persons in the county, while there are about 200 suspected cases. Senator Thomas Grupee said, Nimba County is the second county in the Republic that has suffered huge causality at the hands of the virus. He added that the huge hit is due to the fact that Nimba is a Border County.

According to him, since the outbreak, both local authorities and the Legislative Caucus are working closely to ensure that the situation is put under control. As a means of helping people of Nimba in the fight against the deadly virus, citizens of county residing in Monrovia and environs hosted a fund-raising rally at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium at which time about US$12,000 was realized.

“Mr. Musa Bility provided US$5,000 and I gave US$1000 plus some flyers to create the awareness about the deadly spread. With the little generated from the short-notice rally, it puts the county in a better position to combat the virus,” he said, further noting that despite the county being next to Montserrado County in terms of medical facilitates, not much is seen as it relates to medication and fast treatment for the people.

“Nimba County has 64 medical facilitates- four hospitals and 54 clinics. Those facilitate lack medicines and qualified health workers; worse of it, government’s support is not forthcoming,” he said. To buttress the effort of the government, the authorities of the county, in close consultations, withdrew US$10,000 from the county’s coffers to buy medications, improve the road network, and create more awareness.

“We also withdrew US$34,000 for transportation, and improve the road network, but interestingly, the nine electoral districts representatives and students from the county have join the wagon of creating awareness,” the Nimba County Senator noted.

According to him, there are three ambulances in the county, along with a few pickup trucks; but he has received reports that all ambulances were currently down, making it difficult to transport suspected patients. Grupee, also chairman of the Nimba County Legislative Caucus, expressed disappointment at the form and manner the government was distributing the US$5 million borrowed from the Central Bank of Liberia for the Ebola fight.

He explained that Nimba County, as big as the county was, received only US$2,000 to combat the virus- something he termed as a mockery and a clear joke. He also disclosed that there were seven quarantined centers in the county, for which the caucus and the  superintendent office pursuing food and medical supplies these.