–As Cummings Expresses Sadness and “Feels” Liberians’ Pains

IPNEWS – Monrovia: The largest opposition Collaborating Political Party (CPP) is citing increasing lack of coordination, improper screening, tracking processes, and especially, the failure to give results to “tested” incoming passengers as main reasons for the increasing rate of Covid_19 infection now ravaging Liberia.

Liberia is now reporting the highest number of infections in the West African sub-region, according to sources closely monitoring the pandemic.

The country has gone from 2,149 cases a month ago to about 3,146 cases, thus registering about 1,000 new cases in a month with 14 deaths.

CPP states that two years ago, Liberia was hit by the COVID 19 Pandemic; and Liberians pulled through reasonably well with the internal system of vigilance and the support of international partners. “We were fortunate to have been one of the countries with low numbers of confirmed cases, rate of transmission and deaths. Travel restrictions from high-infected countries as well as stringent travel standards globally combined with fewer or no flights coming to our airports were contributory.”

“Due to the reduction in cases, the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) relaxed the protocols, let down the guards that were put in place to control the spread and concentrated only on testing for travels which is a global requirement. Most unfortunately, testing of passengers at the international airport, including of travelers from highly infected countries, has been very disappointing.

The CPP, in its Press Statement, said, “As a result, many passengers have entered Liberia from countries that are heavily hit with the new strain and deadlier kind of the virus. Today, the virus is spreading uncontrollably, and we have lost many lives. Our people are still dying; hospitals are rejecting patients with other illnesses because we are incapacitated and have no rapid response testing and screening procedures to distinguish COVID from other illnesses.”

The political party reminded the country’s health authorities by extension the government, that bigger countries with better health care delivery, including the world powers, were and are still overwhelmed by this virus. “Without the resources and capacity to fight and control our population that has a high percentage of illiteracy and very low-income generation, we risk losing many lives and drowning our economy even deeper. We face a true national crisis with the potential for dire consequences for our people, and our country.”

Meanwhile, a member of the CPP, which is a conglomeration of four political parties, including the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Liberty Party (LP), All Liberian Party (ALP) and Unity Party (UP), Mr. Alexander Benedict Cummings, has expressed how deeply saddened he is for the pain Liberians are now facing as it relates to the Covid_19 pandemic. He added: “I feel your pains. The harsh truth is that this too, could have been avoided.”

“These are difficult and frightening times for Liberia. Our nation is at the brink of a health crisis as the Covid-19 Pandemic is raging across the country. Our country is currently experiencing a rapidly increasing surge in COVID cases, occasioned by an unimaginable number of hospitalizations and deaths of our people, particularly, in Montserrado county and its environs. We have gone from 2,149 cases a month ago to about 3,146 cases today, thus registering about 1,000 new cases in a month with 14 deaths. Hospitals are running out of beds and life-saving medical oxygen which are in short supply, are being rationed among those in extreme needs. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners and support staffs are scrambling. People are forced to look on helplessly as their family members and friends who are turned away, suffer, suffocate and die. With over 3,100 confirmed cases, local transmission across the remotest parts of the country where even more weakened health infrastructures exist, will only exacerbate an already worsening health situation in the country, and further risk our sub-region and the world. It does not have to be this way. A responsible government will not allow its people to go through this while they simply watch with no sense of urgency or direction,” Mr. Cummings said in his Cummings Press Statement.