The Ghana Medical Association (GMA), has called on the President to effect a nationwide lockdown as a drastic measure to curtail the continuous spread of COVID-19 in the country.
According to a press statement jointly signed by Dr Frank Ankobea, President of the Ghana Medical Association and Dr Justice Yankson, the General Secretary on Wednesday, the Association said it has observed with grave concern the increasing trend of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and the national response to the pandemic.
The Association calls for a total lockdown with the exception of essential services with immediate effect as a response to the full consciousness of the threat posed by this pandemic, the disturbing trend of community spread and the obvious inadequacy of capacity such as logistic and human resource, of the nation’s health system to deal with increased numbers of COVID-19 infections, especially in severe to critical cases
According to the last report, confirmed cases of the virus has risen to 132 with 3 deaths since the country announced its first case on March 12 2020.
The country with about 31 million population according to report is yet to receive funding from the International Monetary Fund to fight the spread the virus in the country and therefore a total lockdown is a necessary measure though ton convenient to minimize the spread.
Ghana had on March 24 sent a request to IMF for a disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility to help the country address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Already, the country has shut all education institutions from primary to tertiary institutions and closed all its land, sea and air borders. Travelers arriving in the country at its international airport are being held in mandatory quarantine for 14 days, with necessary tests conducted.
According to Ghana Business News, “The great majority of the confirmed cases are Ghanaians, who returned home from affected countries. Seven (7) are of other nationals namely: Norway, Lebanon, China, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK). The number of confirmed cases among travelers under mandatory quarantine who have been tested is seventy-eight (78).
In respect of contact tracing, a total of 970 contacts have been identified and are being tracked. Out of these, two hundred and four (204) have completed the 14 days mandatory follow up,” says the Ghana Health Service.
It is hoped that IMF Executive Board speedily attend to the nation’s request to approve it. In the mean time Ghana will continue to take the needed proactive measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus which has continued to ravage world economy.
