CORONAVIRUS: Government of Ghana must do more to prevent entry of virus into Ghana – Democratic Forum

The Democratic Forum stands with the entire global community and especially the people of China in the fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus which has so far claimed over 900 lives in china and has so far spread to some 25 other countries.

It is a tough time for the entire global community and much more distressing to China and all the 25 hit countries. Deriving insight from WHO’s 2019Cov response in Africa which pillars #Early detection # Rapid Response and #Awareness, the health affairs directorate of the Democratic Forum wishes to make these inputs for the action of the Ministry of Health of Ghana and the entire public.

We wish to first commend the government of Ghana on the steps taken so far towards preventing the entry of the Coronavirus into the Country. We also acknowledge the designation of the Ridge Hospital and Tema General Hospital as management centers for all suspected cases of the disease. Equally, we wish to recognize the excellent diagnostic services of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) in confirming the presence or otherwise of the disease in the 9 suspected cases so far in Ghana.

We however believe that more needs to be done in the following areas to ensure an impregnable coordination to prevent any possible entry of the virus.

1. There must be an active public education for the citizenry on the signs and symptoms of the infection. This could be targeted more to people in residence with individuals who may have arrived from any of the affected areas in recent times and many not have the symptoms yet.

2. There must therefore be an intense training as a matter of urgency for all hospital staff (not only for those at designated management centers) to effectively detect suspected cases and make appropriate referrals to designated management centers.

3. Training must also be provided for emergency service providers and stand-by ambulance transportation arranged for suspected cases.

4. We finally encourage the government of Ghana to consider a possible evacuation of Ghanaian Citizens and especially students from as many are in stark distress.

Thank you

Franklin Nyanzu
Director of Health Affairs
Democratic Forum

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