Tappita, Nimba County – Liberia’s second largest referral hospital, the Jackson F. Doe Memorial Hospital located in Tappita, Nimba County, has reported its second COVID-19 case.
The patient is a journalist who works at the community radio station in the area.
Ebenezer Toe Strother, the Deputy Administrator of JFD Referral Hospital in Tappita Nimba County, confirmed the hospital’s second COVID-19 case, revealing that massive contact tracing is already underway, while a 36-bedroom guest house has been selected to isolate close contacts and suspected cases.
Nimba is the second largest county in Liberia in terms of population. Before the civil war in 1989, there were over 313,050 people in the county according to the 1984 census. The most recent census increased to 462,026.
Specimen Sent for Testing
Confirming the news to FrontPage Africa, Mr. Strother said in a bid to put the county in ready mode to fight to pandemic, a 36-bedroom guest house has been selected to isolate close contacts and suspected cases.
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.
Speaking to FrontPage Africa from isolation, the patient explained that he went to the hospital on April 13, 2020 when he started vomiting and defecating.
“I had no idea that my specimen was sent to Monrovia to be tested. If I had knew, I wouldn’t have gone home to interact with my children and other people. I love my family and I will do everything to protect them.”
Patient, registered as second COVID-19 case in Nimba
According to the patient, he was treated for malaria and was discharged without the hospital informing him that his specimen was sent to Monrovia for COVID-19 test.
Confusion Over Specimen
“I had no idea that my specimen was sent to Monrovia to be tested. If I had knew, I wouldn’t have gone home to interact with my children and other people. I love my family and I will do everything to protect them,” he said.
The patient explained: “I suspected that I have diarrhea because I had just returned from the farm where I drank from the creek. I was vomiting and toileting and I took medicine but was feeling very weak. So, I decided to go to the hospital for treatment. They did my lab test and said I had malaria.” I was treated and discharged.”
Hospital ‘Doing All We Can’
However, Mr. Strother, responding to a FrontPage Africa Inquiry, stated that the patient was aware of the test and was sent home for self-isolation pending his result.
“He was treated for malaria and not having a space in the hospital we asked him to go home and place himself under isolation. We realized the error and now we are doing everything to isolate those who may have come in contact with him. We are not sitting. We are doing all we can to isolate possible contacts.”
Mr. Ebenezer Toe Strother, Administrator, Jackson F. Doe Hospital, Tapitta, Nimba County
Strother admitted that the decision may have been wrong but the hospital, in collaboration with the district health surveillance team are now conducting rigorous contact tracing to isolate people that may have come in contact with the patient.
“He was treated for malaria and not having a space in the hospital we asked him to go home and place himself under isolation. We realized the error and now we are doing everything to isolate those who may have come in contact with him. We are not sitting. We are doing all we can to isolate possible contacts,” Strother told FPA.”
The case marks the second COVID-19 case to have been reported from Nimba County.
The first case involved a man who was confirmed dead upon arrival at the Jackson F. Doe Referral Hospital.
The deceased had arrived from the United States for a dowry ceremony in a nearby town called Zuotuo when he began showing symptoms of COVID-19.
Because of the incident, Nimba was among four counties that were locked down by President George Weah, while declaring a state of emergency in a bid to stop the spread of the disease.