WE MUST RETURN TO SERIOUS COMPLIANCE IF WE BELIEVE IN LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD
Over the weekend, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his routine accounting on the COVID-19 situation in Ghana, announced revolutionary measures in sustaining the fight against COVID-19, following a breakdown in compliance and monitoring.
Indicating that government and its allied agencies are still avidly fighting the disease by its tracing, testing, and treatment strategies, he noted efforts that had been put in place by the Ghana Health Service GHS to reduce pressure on various health facilities providing care for COVID-19 patients as infections continue to rise in the country.
On top of issues
Earlier, the Head of Disease Surveillance Department of the GHS, Dr. Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, had told the media that reports of overstretch on facilities were partly because of the Service’s review of its COVID-19 management and care guidelines.
Care guidelines, he noted, were however still operational, adding that the GHS has secured some facilities, including hotels to beef up the processes. Additionally, the 65-bed COVID-19 isolation center at Pantang and the 100-bed infectious disease center at the Ga East Hospital is still available to augment care and management of cases.
In the light of the reported surge in numbers having tested positive, the HS announced that Pantang will now take care of international travelers who are asymptomatic and were undergoing home management, while another facility at Dodowa will help free the system and give space to treat critically ill and complicated cases in the hospitals.
Self-inflicted
As the President noted, the new surge in infections has been self-inflicted and is reflected in recklessness at our beaches and restaurants, partying, and weddings which ignore the safety protocols.
He particularly cited the markets and other public places for being responsible for the negligence that’s causing us socio-economic jeopardy, directing that the police intervene before the nation experiences a calamity.
We at the Thunder Gh News agree with the President for the bold measures he is taking to save lives and livelihoods at a time most of our market women and ignorant communities especially believe the COVID-19 was an ill wind that only blew for a time, never to surface again.
We also agree that it is self-inflicted because we all see a lax in compliance with the usual places where people crowd up, including churches, mosques, beaches, and restaurants. Public transport, state institutions, the streets, etc are all, at best, showing evidence of partial compliance, with the monitoring agencies themselves asleep.
Wake up call
That is why the President’s announcement and directive towards enforcement must be commended as the panacea in instilling discipline in our collective duty to fight the pandemic.
Ghana must move forward in sustaining the gains that we made last year so that we can have our lives and be healthy enough to partner with the government in improving livelihoods.
We, therefore, join the President in calling on all members of the general public to return steadfastly to compliance with the safety protocols in wearing our nose masks, engaging in social distancing, washing our hands vigorously under running water, and using frequently using sanitizers in putting Ghana back on the map as a serious nation.
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