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President Bio and World Bank Rep in Sierra Leone discuss Coronavirus

  • President Bio with the World Bank Country Director

By Francis H. Murray

President Julius Maada Bio has held talks with World Bank Country Director, Pierre Frank Laporte, on preparations to deal with the novel strain of the Corona virus.

In a meeting on Tuesday at State House, President Bio told Laporte that the country had learnt from its experience during the fight against Ebola and would use that in preparing for Coronavirus, in the event it spreads to the country.

“We are concerned enough about the virus and we are working towards prevention. But should there be any outbreak, we have also made preparations. I have done checks at the border entry points. We have put in place all that we have and have identified actions that needed to be taken immediately,” Bio was quoted telling the World Bank official who is based in Accra, Ghana, where he presides over the Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Sierra Leone has strengthened screening on all its land borders, including the airport, where Bio President has personally visited.

The Coronavirus epidemic, which started in China late last year, has now spread to 118 countries in the world. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus as a “pandemic”.

Sierra Leone has not registered any case yet.

Last week, the World Bank announced US$12 billion to be provided to countries with weak health system to prepare their response.

The support will also cushion the adverse toll the virus might take on the economies of these countries.

Laporte said that the World Bank was concerned about the outbreak of the deadly virus which was a worldwide concern. He praised Sierra Leone’s awareness about the disease and the level of preparation to tackle it.

Sierra Leone is not new to outbreaks of diseases. Over the last decade, it has experienced Ebola and Cholera outbreaks.

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