On 16 March, the first case in Liberia was confirmed, a government official who traveled from Switzerland. President George Weah controversially named the person, and claimed they violated screening protocols at Roberts International Airport in Harbel. The second case was confirmed on 17 March, a close contact of the first case. Liberia's third case of COVID-19 was confirmed on 20 March. The third person was a returned traveler. Following this third case, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare declared a national health emergency on 22 March. On 24 March, neighboring Ivory Coast announced it closed land borders with Liberia and Guinea in a measure to contain COVID-19. On 27 March, the U.S. Embassy evacuated some U.S. citizens from Liberia. At the end of the month all three cases remained active.
April 2020
Liberia reported its first death on 4 April. On 5 April, the German Embassy together with the European Union organized a charter flight evacuating its citizens. On 7 April, President George Weah appointed a new National Response Coordinator for the Executive Committee on Coronavirus. The committee will be headed by former mayor of the City of Monrovia, Madam Mary Broh. Some experts questioned Broh's ability to effectively coordinate the pandemic response given her inexperience in public health protocols. However, her appointment was noted to have been as a result of recommendations from the United Nations, particularly the World Health Organization. On 8 April, President George Weah declared lock-down measures to take effect on April 10 and last for 3 weeks, including suspension of all non-essential travel and curfews. Schools were closed across the country, and churches, mosques, bars, and beaches in parts of the country. The National Public Health Institute of Liberia recorded a record increase in the number of confirmed cases from 14 to 31, an increase of 17 new cases. They also reported 1 more death. On 21 April, Liberia's legislature wrote a resolution requiring the public to wear masks in public. Enforcement of the law is unclear. As of that date, 29 confirmed cases were healthcare workers. During the month there were 138 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 141. There were 45 recoveries and 16 deaths, leaving 80 active cases at the end of the month.
May 2020
There were 147 new cases in May, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 288. Eleven patients died, raising the total death toll to 27. The number of recovered patients rose by 112 to 157, leaving 104 active cases at the end of the month.
June 2020
On 22 June, President George Weah extended the state of emergency by 30 days. During the month, there were 492 new cases, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 780. The death toll rose by 9 to 36. By the end of the month 324 patients had recovered, leaving 420 active cases. Model-based simulations indicate that the confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction numberR t has been stable above 1.0 since early June.
July 2020
There were 406 new cases in July, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1186. The death toll more than doubled to 75. The number of recovered patients increased by 346 to 670, leaving 441 active cases at the end of the month, an increase by 5% from the previous month.
Response
Liberia was one of the first countries to start screening passengers for COVID-19 at airports. On 18 March, China donated medical supplies to Liberia. On 13 April, the International Monetary Fund granted Liberia debt service relief, of an unknown amount. There has been controversy in the country over whether people with infections should be named. The National Public Health Institute of Liberia's policy was to not release names of people with infections to reduce stigmatization and protect privacy, but other government officials have advocated for releasing names for better contact tracing.
