Children discuss the status of children infected with COVID-19 in Sierra Leone

On Friday 11th July 2020, Children supported by Save the Children through the Gender Bizness project in the weekly radio programme talked about rates of COVID-19 infection in children. With national data showing that 13% (209) of people infected with the virus in Sierra Leone are children, they brought up the issue with government and captured the voices of children and parents on concerns they have over the safety of children during this pandemic.

The Pekin en Youth Talk Show was hosted by Alimatu Bah and Mariam Conteh at African Young Voices Radio. Guest was the psychosocial liaison at the National Corona Emergency Response Centre (NaCOVERC), Ansu Kanneh. The program captured what parents think was responsible for the high rates of infection in children, their fears and advice to children and other parents. It also shared the reaction of the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs to the data. In the live discussion program, Mr. Kanneh stated that the majority of children infected are in Freetown and included children with disabilities.

“This is alarming and this figure indicates a 2.8% increase since May 2020. It suggests the need to upscale child friendly health and social care services to adapt and respond to the needs of children infected with the virus in Sierra Leone,” he said.

He called on government and partners to pay attention to these figures and find ways to immediately address them.