One confirmed Ebola case left in Liberia

Health authorities in Liberia are reporting that over the last 21 days, the average confirmed Ebola case in the country “is one,” as health workers boast of chasing and hunting Ebola.

The head of the Incident Management System, under Liberia’s Health Ministry, Mr. Tolbert Nyensuah made the disclosure on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at the commencement of a two-day cabinet retreat in Julijuah, Bomi County.

The cabinet, chaired by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, purposely met on her Farm to re-unite members of the Executive Branch, report achievements and failures, as well as reach a common purpose that will guide ministries and agencies in executing presidential mandates in the last three years of the Sirleaf led-government.

But with the impact of Ebola being felt in all sectors of the society, the latest report coming from the IMS certainly appeared to have brought a high level of relieve to the President and cabinet members who, during the darkest period of the epidemic here, complained that the disease had stalled lots of government projects, including roads and power.

“Yesterday, the lab test we ran on the 19 [of January, 2015],  had only one case, and that case did not come from the community, but one of our treatment units- Island Clinic, which was an hygienic that is providing services to the clinic,” said Mr. Nyensuah, who is also Assistant Health Minster for Preventive Services.

He said in the past four days, Liberia has been reporting zero cases, adding that Montserrado and Grand Cape Mount Counties were the two places of concern right now in terms of cases and transmission because since the rest of the 13 counties were not reporting any case in the past 21 days.

Among other ministries and agencies reporting on the first day of the ‘2015 Cabinet Retreat’ were the President’s Delivery Unit; the Ministries of Public Works; Lands, Mines and Energy, Youth and Sports; Education; and Gender, Children and Social Protection. 
  
Liberia’s Public Works Minister Gyude Moore boasted during the Cabinet Retreat that right now, Liberia was capable of building two miles of road a day, assuring his colleagues and the President that there were enough equipment in the country.

He expressed confidence that the 2015 July 26 Independence Day Celebration here will not be postponed as was the case last year.

With the decline of Ebola here, Liberia’s Education Minister Madam Etmonia David Tarpeh insisted that schools should reopen because the facilities will be ready, assuring the public not to cry against the reopening of schools because of the lack of money and uniforms, as their children won’t be thrown out of school for dress code.

During the retreat, President Sirleaf said the reopening of schools should not be hasty for the sake of meeting deadlines, but demanded to be more important was putting the necessary mechanisms in place for the safety of students.

By Winston W. Parley