Covid-19: Gov’t must Decentralise Testing Centres – MP

Member of Parliament for the South Tongu constituency, Kobena Mensah Woyome, has appealed to government to consider decentralizing testing centres in the country for the epidemic COVID-19.

He noted that the testing centres in Kumasi, Accra, Tamale and Tema are just too distant from places like his constituency. According to him, his recent visit to the place to create awareness to the people and also supply them with testing kits showed that his constituency was far lacking in many things.

Hon Woyome made this known to news men on his return tour of the constituency last week.

He told newsmen that he did the tour with the District Director of Health, to whom he presented a number of items for onward distribution to hospitals and clinics in the area. He indicated that his findings were not the best as hospital personnel lacked basically everything including Personal Preventive Equipment (PPE).

Hon. Woyome indicated that he visited the Konbohi Hospital and the main Hospital there, but he observed that though Hospital personnel had geared themselves up for rapid response to any emergency, the lack of equipment held them back from living up to expectation.

He indicated that his constituency is a transit point for visitors from Togo and beyond, saying that his place forms part of the Eastern Corridor, and house all manner of security agents.

He stated that at the Dabala Junction, custom officials interpreted trucks full of visitors into the country form Nigeria. And all these they had to do without the required equipment but with raw hands, he lamented.

According to him in the cause of this the, security agents interpreted fake but expensive drugs. “So, should the unexpected happen, you just can imagine!” he exclaimed.

Asked if there had been any reported case there, Hon. Woyome exclaimed that they didn’t want to hear that one. All the same, since “Prevention is better them cure”, he is calling on Government not only to equip health personnel there with the necessary equipment, but also decentralize testing centres for COVID-19, since such places as his were just too far from the existing testing centres of the epidemic.

Source: S.O Ankamah