By Foday Moriba Conteh
The Nurses Association, which is the umbrella body of professional nurses in Sierra Leone, has expressed concern over the plight of its members who are under quarantine and appealed to the Government to work on improving it.
Dozens of nurses were placed under quarantine within the largest maternity hospital in Freetown after a Covid-19 confirmed case was reported to have gone through the facility.
The Nurses Association of Sierra Leone said a total of 34 nurses were identified as part of the contacts of the case and were subjected to quarantine without been provided with the necessary support.
The incident led to the temporary shutting down of a section of the hospital, keeping out pregnant women and lactating mothers for about two days. Latest reports indicate that some of the nurses have been moved to a more conducive facility.
Secretary General of the Nurses Association, Haurace Nyandemoh, said they were concerned by the fact that all the nurses were placed in the same section of the hospital with the risk of infecting those who may turn out not to have the virus.
“Putting people in one confinement area is not good. If one case becomes positive, all the others are at risk,” he said. According to the Association, the nurses were left without food.
When they were later given cooking ingredients, they were not provided with materials to cook with. They were also concerned that all the nurses had only one toilet available for them. Officials said samples taken from the nurses are being used for testing.
