MONROVIA – New confirmed cases of COVID-19 are fast-growing in Liberia with the cases nearing a hundred, and more cases surfacing in rural Liberia where medical facilities and health practitioners are scarce.
Of the current 91 confirmed cases as of Sunday, April 18, 2020, 10 of the new cases surfaced on Saturday, including one new death bring the death toll to eight.
Liberia’s second largest referral hospital, the Jackson F. Doe Memorial Hospital located in Tappita, Nimba County, the country’s second populous county has reported its second COVID-19 case.
There have been reports that the patient’s specimen was sent to the testing center in Monrovia, but while awaiting result, the Hospital discharged him.
The patient’s result came on Saturday, April 18, 2020 and has since been isolated at the Jackson F. Doe Referral hospital.
The incident is said to be causing panic in Tappita and its surroundings as residents are expressing dismay over the hospital’s decision to discharge the patient, who returned to work and came in contact with families and friends.
More updates to follow as NPHIL and the Ministry of Health release more details.