If all goes well, Liberia is expected to be declared Ebola free by the World Health Organization (WHO), and emotions, particularly in the capital, Monrovia, are beginning to run high as the West African nation, devastated by the deadly disease, prepares to erupt into celebrations.
According to official records, Liberia recorded over 4,000 Ebola deaths thus putting it among the three hardest-hit nations by the virus with Guinea and Sierra Leone being the other two.
The country is now struggling to deal with the aftermaths of the Ebola outbreak. Hundreds of families are still morning the death of their loved ones and friends, some are fighting to adjust to the economic consequences of the outbreak while many others are trying to cope with psychological scars.
In addition to lives lost to Ebola, the outbreak in April of 2014 also caused economic decline as foreign firms folded up. Many businesses, especially foreign owned are yet to resume operations despite improvement in the health situation.
Dozens of development projects remain stalled as foreign contractors who worked on them prior to the outbreak are yet to return to the country.
But Liberians are hopeful that in two days all this could dramatically change when the country is declared Ebola free. On Saturday, May 9, 2015, Liberia would have completed the 42 - Day incubation or observatory period without a single confirmed case of the deadly Ebola virus as required by the World Health Organization and it is expected that the country will be declared Ebola free by the WHO.
“By Saturday, May 9, the second wave of Ebola should be over,” Liberia’s Assistant Health Minister for Prevent Services and the Head of the Incidence Management System said earlier today in Monrovia.
He said a formal ceremony will be held in Monrovia to mark the end of the deadly outbreak that threatened to sever gains made by Liberia emerging from a prolonged decade and a half devastating civil conflict.
However, he cautioned the public to continue to observe Ebola protocols including regular and constant hand washing. He added that temperature testing of people entering through the borders will continue.
Speaking at the Ministry of Information regular press briefing Thursday in Monrovia, Mr. Nyenswah said the Government of Liberia, in collaboration with partners, has put in place a high surveillance system to track sick people in communities. He said the bodies of people who die at homes will be tested in order to determine the cause of death, noting that funeral parlors in the country have been asked to carry out due diligence before accepting dead bodies for preparation in their mortuaries.
Mr. Tolbert Nyenswah, who was recently nominated by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Deputy Health Minister for Incidence Management pending confirmation by the Liberian Senate, is widely regarded by many as a hero in Liberia’s fight to contain Ebola.
President Sirleaf in her Annual Address to the Legislature in January lavished praises on Mr. Nyenswah for his role in the fight to contain and defeat the killer Ebola disease.
For his part, Liberia's Information Minister Lewis Brown lauded Liberians for their resilience in the fight against the disease which killed thousands and ripped families apart.
He said Liberians have proven to the World that they have a defensive character against whatever threatens their common destiny.
In a statement release earlier this week, the Information Minister thanked members of the international community for standing by the people of Liberia during the outbreak and the numerous financial and material contributions made to contain and eliminate the virus.
He said Liberians would remain grateful to the demonstration of true love and care shown to the people of Liberia and the people of West Africa, particularly those severely affected by the disease.
In the statement, the government spokesman urged Liberians to adopt similar resilience and collaborate with the government and development partners in rebuilding the country following the deadly epidemic.
As Liberians both at home and abroad prepare to celebrate the end of a disease that threatened 12 years of hard earned peace, experts say the public health system of the country is in a deplorable state and needs to be overhauled and revamped in order to withstand any future outbreak of epidemic as the scale of Ebola. In part, experts blamed the rapid spread of the disease and the causalities sustained on the poor state or absence of basic health services. Writes Peter A. Fahn