The Ministry of Health has confirmed that Lui of Mundri County in Western Equatoria State lacked a COVID-19 awareness campaign hence the recent sharp surge in cases.
The Chief of Planning and Information Mabior Kiir Kudior said the team visited sites within Lui Hospital at the Isolation unit to ascertain the causes of massive infection.
Other areas visited were the laboratory, the screening area, medical wards, and the consultation and pharmacy.
The team also visited offices in Mundri East and West, the office of the National Security Service in Mundri East and West, the office of CHD Director, ICAP, MSF, and Mundri Primary Health Care Centre medical wards.
Kudior explained that the team found out that previously Mundri had a COVID-19 state task force but currently there is no COVID-19 Taskforce after the country restructured to 10 states.
“There is no partner supporting COVID-19 case management in the isolation facility and the nurses refused to work at the isolation facility due to lack of risk allowances,” he explained.
The team recommended that the need for the formation of the COVID-19 County Task Force in order to bring on board all the county institutions including the implementing partners. It also proposed the formation of a technical working group within Lui Hospital so that they can be able to discuss the COVID-19 activities in order to address concerns.
“COVID-19 updates on the positive cases and their status should be shared with the local authorities and partners to update the public on the current status on the ground operations and support should be extended to the coordination structures to strengthen operability,” he said
He added that the recommended actions needed included the provision of an extra Gene x-pert to reduce the overwhelming of the 1 Gene x-pert
“There is also a need for a designated sample collection area should be identified. Enough space should be identified for the laboratories (Lui Hospital and Mundri PHCC),” he revealed.
Kudior further said that there is a need for training of hospital staff on COVID-19 case management as well as finding a partner to support the isolation facility and also Modification of the Isolation Centre.
“Medair will soon be given an approval by the national Ministry of Health to manage the home-base care of COVID-19,” Kudior said.
He also talked about the vaccination update in the state due to poor perception of the community toward COVID-19 vaccines.
“The distances of some areas from the hospital which hinder their accessibility for vaccination is also a problem’’.
However, the government and the partners have held a meeting on Lui finding and have now scaled up a plan to start up all the necessary responses in Lui and Mundri area and the home base care is started by ICAP.
He explained that the rapid assessment was aimed at assessing the reasons for resurgence, challenges facing COVID-19 implementation in all areas including surveillance, laboratory, case
management, IPC/WASH, RCSM&CE, and preparing the hospital against public health threats including supporting the COVID-19 interventions.
He further added the exercise would help in ‘‘providing COVID-19 technical support to the facility staff and monitor COVID-19 interventions, including addressing concerns, rumors, etc. surrounding COVID-19 and other prone epidemic diseases’’.
On October 2, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation dispatched a team of health professionals to Western Equatoria State to assess the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the area.
The team was sent on October 7, to Anzara, Lui, and Makpandu areas which reported an increase in cases of the virus.
The Chief of Planning and Information Mabior Kiir Kudior told The City Review in an exclusive interview that the situation became alarming when seven death cases were reported.