COVID-19 in Liberia
Phebe Hospital, Bong County, Liberia
Liberia, at the epicenter of the Ebola crisis in 2014, is no stranger to infectious disease, and from the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic many in Liberia understood the potential consequences of the global spread of the coronavirus. The Government of Liberia announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Liberia on March 16, 2020. Faith-based institutions quickly reached out to international partners for assistance, recognizing the stress on government systems and knowing that resources to deal with the pending crisis would be severely limited. The Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL) sought support for Phebe and Curran Hospitals, with a focus on providing oxygen for patients, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers. It also quickly became apparent that psychosocial and nutritional support would be important for affected family members and the most vulnerable among the population, including the elderly, widows and orphans.
International Response
The LCL, in collaboration with the Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL), reached out to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (ELCB), and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) with a disaster response proposal. Promissio and the ACT Church in Sweden were approached with requests for assistance as well, and all have contributed to the LCL’s efforts to address humanitarian needs that have resulted from the virus. Global Health Ministries has also assisted the LCL with donations of critically important medical supplies, including PPE to protect health workers at both hospitals.
Global Health Ministries’ Role
For three decades, Global Health Ministries has partnered with the LCL to help build the capacity of Phebe and Curran Hospitals. GHM’s first shipment of medical supplies and equipment for Liberia was sent from Minneapolis in 1989, and since then GHM has shipped 53 containers to help the hands that heal in Liberia. That steadfast support was critically important in 2014, when Ebola virus disease appeared for the first time in West Africa. Dr. Jefferson Sibley, Medical Director at Phebe Hospital, made one of his first calls for assistance during the crisis to GHM. The local Liberian community in Minneapolis/St. Paul joined with GHM volunteers, donors and others in an extraordinary show of support, and GHM was able to air-lift supplies to Liberia to help meet urgent needs even as regular shipments of medical supplies and equipment continued. GHM shipped everything from new mattresses for hospital beds to PPE - gloves, gowns, face shields, eye protection – to help protect hospital staff.
Volunteers at GHM’s warehouse sent PPE to Liberia during the 2014 Ebola crisis.
GHM’s first shipment to Liberia of 2020 arrived In March, just as the country confirmed its first COVID-19 case. A significant amount of PPE was on that container – a blessing for both Phebe and Curran Hospitals and others at a critical time. A second container, also sending significant amounts of PPE as well as equipment for the solar installation project at Curran Hospital, was loaded mid-August and is expected to arrive in Monrovia by mid-October. A third 40-foot container shipment is planned for later this year.
COVID-19 at Phebe Hospital
Both Phebe and Curran Hospitals have had confirmed cases of COVID-19 and in late June, Dr. Sibley wrote this from Phebe: “As we struggle together to overcome the global pandemic, it is obvious that some of our frontliners may fall victim but we continue to have each other in our daily prayers.” Days earlier, seven emergency room staff at Phebe had tested positive for COVID-19 and gone into isolation after two patients died of the virus in the ER. Sibley himself has recovered from his own life-threatening battle with COVID.
When staff or others test positive for COVID-19 they must be kept in isolation for 14 days, the incubation period for this coronavirus. In addition, their families and other close associates must be kept in isolation for 14 days of observation. The need for additional space at both Phebe and Curran Hospitals to be used for isolation and observation has become critical. The need for medicine, medical supplies and food for those who are infected as well as those in isolation for observation is critical as well.
Current Focus
The LCL has asked the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for additional assistance to prepare isolation units at both Phebe and Curran Hospitals, renovating existing buildings so that rooms are self-contained and equipped with necessary supplies. Training for health workers at both hospitals in risk reduction and stress management is part of the project, as is distribution of food, especially rice and oil, to people affected by the pandemic. Global Health Ministries will join hands with the ELCA to support the project.
Curran Lutheran Hospital, Liberia