Capitol Hill, Monrovia – Plenary of the House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah and the Director-General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Dr. Mosoka Fallah, to inform the House on the level of preparedness of the country’s health system in containing the coronavirus disease.
Plenary also invited several officials of the Executive including Commerce Minister Wilson Tarpeh, Youth and Sports Minister, Zeogar Wilson, Labor Minister Moses Kollie and Minister of Transport, Samuel A. Wlue.
The House took the decision on Thursday based on a communication from Rep. Ben A. Fofana (District #4, Margibi County) asking plenary to invite the aforementioned officials to inform the Liberian people about their respective ministries’ preventive mechanisms and how they can work with the Legislature to contain COVID-19.
In his communication, Rep. Fofana said Prof. Tarpeh should appear and provide information regarding government’s preparedness in terms of the availability of food and other basic commodities on the Liberian market as the coronavirus spreads across the world, including Liberia.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Zeogar Wilson, is also appearing to talk about crowd control measures that are being put into place to discourage huge gathering of young people, particularly at sporting and other events.
“I will equally want the Minister of Labor to appear to provide government’s detailed plans to protect workers, including those in the private and public sectors who might stay home from work as a way of preventing the spread of the virus,” said Rep. Fofana in his communication to Plenary.
Transport Minister Samuel A. Wlue is being cited to explain about mechanisms that have been put in place to regulate transport-related crowd, including those that depend on public buses, taxis and other commercial vehicles to commute, as well as the aviation sector of the country.
The lawmakers in session endorsed Rep. Fofana’s communication through a unanimous vote following a motion by Rep. Alex C. Grant (District #3, Grand Gedeh County).
Before the vote was taken, Rep. Mathew G. Zarzar (District #3, Sinoe County) cautioned his colleagues against inviting all of the officials and their principal deputies, adding, it will lead to overcrowding of the chambers, thereby violating one of the safety measures.
His amendment was rejected by Rep. Grant, and all of the officials were asked to appear on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 10: am.
Like most of the affected countries, Liberia has begun experiencing the ripple effects of the coronavirus which has been described as one of the threats to the health and wellbeing of Liberia and its people since the Ebola epidemic in 2014.
The Government has since put in place series of measures, among them the closing of all learning institutions for about one week and granting pay leave to all non-essential employees of government.
The Ministry of Transport, in a release under the signature of Minister Wlue has mandated all commercial and non-commercial vehicles to carry a passenger in the front seat and three in back seat, while buses should carry the required number of passengers per seating to avoid overcrowding.
Commercial motorcyclists are requested to wear protective masks and accommodate a passenger per ride, while tricycle should carry two passengers per ride.
The public is also advised to avoid crowd and to keep a minimum social distance of at least six feet from people with fever, cough, sneezing and difficulty in breathing, as well as practice regular hand washing.