IPNews-Monrovia: The deadly COVID-19 pandemic has recorded its first victim among the Journalist community in Liberia.

Making the disclosure, the Press Union of Liberia said in a word of solidarity to Radio Tappita that it was sadden by the report.

The PUL President Charles B. Coffey, Jr. in a message to journalists particularly in Nimba admonished media practitioners to be cautious during the coverage of COVID-19 Pandemic.

PUL Coffey comments come after its journalist was tested positive for coronavirus in the northeastern region of Nimba County.

Mr. Coffey urged journalists to stay safe while observing approved National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) COVID-19 prevention protocol and use masks at all times during the discharge of their duties.

The Union asserted that social distancing, use of disinfectants on equipment including recorders before and after interviews by journalists all across Liberia must be part of the abundance of cautions employ if the virus is to be contained within the sixty days instituted by the state.

It may be recalled Health workers on Sunday, April 19, 2020, informed the Voice of Tappita journalist that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He told the Press Union of Liberia that the Jackson F. Doe Referral Hospital treated him for malaria and discharged him without being informed that his specimen was sent to Monrovia for COVID-19 test.

The journalist is one of several reporters who covered the emergence of COVID-19 in a village near Tippita in Nimba County.

His colleagues at the Voice of Tappita are being quarantined while health authorities are tracing other contacts.

PUL Nimba County Coordinator Joseph Solo and Nimba County Community Radio Association (NICORA) President, Kennedy Domah are in contact with the Voice of Tappita Radio journalists in consultation with the Leadership of the PUL, a release from the PUL noted.