January 26, 2021
By: Sulaiman Stom Koroma
Sierra Leoneans are not new to curfews associated with state of emergencies. Curfew was in fact evoked during the Ebola outbreak in 2013.
Needless to say that this measure can be painful to cope with by ordinary Sierra Leone as the majority of the people eke-out a living on daily basis. It is a rat race syndrome in such circumstances of disease outbreaks and extraordinary solutions can be considered as a way out.
Because of the recent spike in Covid-19 cases especially during the holiday periods, between December 1, 2020, and January 18, 2021, positive cases from routine tests and outbound passengers alone, account for over 80% of confirmed positive cases. A rise of this nature left the government with no option but to institute new regulations to help curb this pandemic.
On the 22nd of January 2021, the government through NaCOVERC issued out some measures which deemed as necessary to help cut down the transmission and lower the daily rise of positive cases.
Some of the restrictions and measure put place, which started on Monday 25th January 2020 are designed in the context of partial lockdown in the Western Area.
Curfew is the principal feature of the new measures introduced nationwide from 10 pm to 5 am, an electronic pass system (E-Pass) will be used to regulate all essential movements, all essential movement of persons from the Western Area will require proof of a negative COVID-19 test valid for 72 hours, restaurants and bars shall not operate during weekends, and clubs remain banned, places of worship shall hold services for not more than one and half hours (90 minutes), the mandatory wearing of face masks in public premises and public transportation will be fully enforced and defaulters will be fully penalized, were among other restrictions.
During this period, the country has experienced a steady increase of COVID 19 cases. This period ranging from the beginning of 2021 has recorded 46 new coronavirus cases, the second highest infection rate in just a day since the outbreak started in March 2020.
On the nights of 23rd and 24th of January 2021, clubs, pubs, beaches, restaurants, and other public places were jam-packed, with people who say they are out there to do their last merriment ahead of the curfew on Monday. Almost all of these people were not observing Covid-19 protocols including hand washing, the wearing of a mask, and social distancing. It is no secret that one of the likely means of contracting this Covid-19 is through public gathering.
With such a huge turn out during those last days before curfew, it is apparent that the number of new cases of Covid-19 will rise over the next few weeks. To cut down on further spread, the government and other necessary apparatus should be vigilant and pay more emphasis on contact tracing, enforce the compulsory use of face mask, hand washing, and cutting down the number of people gathering at a particular point. I am of the opinion that if this approach is not considered there will be worst case scenario surpassing all moments since March 2020.
Sierra Leone cumulative confirmed positive cases as of the 25th January 2021 is 3,139 and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus, Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard, globally, there have been confirmed cases of 95, 985, 966 of COVID-19, including 2, 062, 232 deaths, and 54,050,694 recoveries reported to WHO as of the 25th January, 2021.
What are the messages in the readings of the statistics: reported cases 3,139, recovered are 2,210 and death is 77 cases as of the 25th January 2021? The figures are alarming yet the recovery rate is impressive. We hope this grim reality can be reversed and as it were during Ebola.
