By G. Burgess Gbelee, Jr. a Medical

Laboratory Technician and a Field Epidemiologist with the National Public Health Reference Laboratory, where I serve as the Serology Department Supervisor and Assistant Quality Officer.

I feel highly privileged to have been the first Liberian laboratory technician to be trained in diagnosis of SARS-COV-2 which causes COVID-19 by the West African Health Organization (WAHO). With this experience, I led the collection and confirmed the first COVID-19 case in Liberia.

Since the country registered her first case, I have been one of the key persons working tirelessly in the diagnosis of COVID-19. As set down rules for laboratory technicians working in high containment laboratory and with a highly infectious respiratory pathogen to periodically perform tests to determine their health status. On the 31st of May 2020, I voluntarily collected my sample for COVID-19 testing right after an extensive community sample testing activity, to my utmost surprise, on the 1st of June 2020 I was confirmed for COVID-19 with a very low ct value which indicates high viral load, however, I had no signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

To observe and follow the national COVID-19 directives as set by the Incidence management team (IMS), I opted to be admitted at the 14 Military hospital on the same day for Isolation and supportive treatment.

Honestly, I felt an acute pain and sadness in my heart, especially thinking about the people I might have come into contact with since it was unclear to me where and when I got infected with the virus. However, with my in-depth knowledge on the COVID-19 disease, my heart felt joy again after looking at the positive side which is the tremendous recovery rate in Liberia and across the world.

Upon reaching the 14 Military hospital and people at the center knowing that I am from the Lab, many questions were posed to me about the reality of COVID-19 in Liberia, and delay of laboratory results. This I did my best to answer in a very simple way that “the fact that I found myself here as an infected person means the disease is real and that it has no boundary”.

As a field epidemiologist and a laboratory, I used scientific facts about the disease to restore hope to many who felt and had the notion that “being infected with COVID-19 means a death sentence”. Throughout all my 3 weeks stay the treatment unit, I took upon myself every morning to give health talk and preached the reality/existence of COVID-19 in Liberia.

Fellow Liberians, COVID-19 is real and it is in Liberia, kindly follow all health protocol which is the best preventive measure. Do not worry about stigmatization, go and get tested, early diagnosis and supportive treatment will make you a survivor and help stop the spread.

As others had said, the 14 Military Hospital has professionals, I mean real health professionals and I am a living witness. I very grateful to God, and thanks to the Professional Nurses, Psychosocial personnel, Hygienist and My own guys the Medical Doctors at the 14 Military Hospital who also restored my hope while I was at the Treatment Unit.