138 COVID-19 patients escape observation in Liberia

Health authorities in Liberia have confirmed that more than 138 people confirmed to have the novel coronavirus who were undergoing home care observation have escaped from their homes at different locations in the capital Monrovia.

Health Minister Wilhelmina Jallah in a regular government COVID-19 update to Liberians on Monday, said the government is running against time to locate the patients.

"As we speak, we are running against time to locate the 138 persons whose results have returned positive following the test given. We administered the test to them, and suggested they go home and wait for their results; and when the results came last weekend, we went after them through addresses they provided, but sadly didn't meet anyone," Jallah explained.

According to her, the whereabouts of the patients make the situation difficult for the government in its response to curb the surging cases of the virus in the country as of last week. Jallah revealed that confirmed cases rose from 171 as of Thursday to 200 on Monday.

She said about 120,000 tests have been conducted, with 2,482 confirmed as of Monday, 28 cases in treatment units, and 89 cases being managed in home-based care. Meanwhile, 2,058 people have recovered.

"There is an active investigation on new cases and their contacts. This includes active case finding, testing and contact tracing," Jallah said.

Jallah stressed the importance for the public to voluntarily avail themselves for testing and vaccination, with the first phase of the AstraZeneca vaccine being conducted at designated locations across the country.

More than 70,000 of the approximately 5 million populations including foreign nationals have been vaccinated across the country.