BUCHANAN, September 2 (LINA) - As the fight against the Ebola virus in the country continues, deaths from confirmed and suspected Ebola cases are on the increase in Grand Bassa County.
Making the disclosure in a telephone interview with the Liberia News Agency Monday, Spokesman of the Bassa Ebola Task Force and Assistant Superintendent for Development, Adoni Z. Greaves, said from July 6 to August 31, there have been 12 deaths in the county from the Ebola disease.
During a recent regular press briefing by the Bassa Ebola Task Force, it was reported that Grand Bassa County had recorded six confirmed Ebola confirmed deaths, but the number has now risen to a dozen.
Greaves said 36 samples were sent to the Liberia Institute for Biological Research (LIBR) in Marshall for testing and that a total of 17 persons proved positive.
The positive patients are now being quarantined at the Government Hospital in Buchanan, the Task Force official said.
According to the Liberia News Agency, a resident of Owensgrove was diagnosed positive of the Ebola virus and transferred to the ELWA Hospital in Monrovia where she was treated and is now 100 percent free of the virus.
“To date, of the 36 samples sent to LIBR for testing, there are 7 samples awaiting result and if every suspected person could report to health centers, Bassa will not experience what is now happening,” Greaves stressed.
He said: “Our greatest challenge is lack of cooperation from citizens who harbor sick people and refuse to call on the health team to be taken to hospital. They wait until the person is dead before calling us for burial, which is not our goal. Our goal is to save lives.”
LINA JBL/TSS/PTK