We have not ruled out the option of evacuating Students from Wuhan – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo says Government has not ruled out the option of evacuating stranded Ghanaian students from Wuhan, the center of the Coronavirus if it becomes necessary.

The Ghanaian community in China, include some 4,760 students, out of which 300 are studying in Hubei Province and 200 in the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

Delivering his penultimate State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday, President Akufo-Addo stated that the situation at hand is a delicate one and therefore pleaded with the general public to desist from ill-judging the situation to score points.

“We have a difficult and delicate situation on our hands. Mr Speaker, and it does not benefit anybody to try to score points by introducing ill-judged politics into this ongoing medical conundrum and humanitarian tragedy,” he said.

The President further acknowledged the trauma the students were experiencing and entreated members of the House to set an example by not instigating fear and panic among people.

“However, we know that no amount of logistics will make up for the extreme stress and trauma that these young people are going through, and I entreat Members of this Honourable House to set an example by helping to pour oil over troubled waters, instead of instigating tension and spreading fear and panic among the young people”.

According to the President, most of the students are on Chinese government scholarships, and, since the crisis started, the Chinese government has done its best to keep them supplied with food and other logistics.

He added that the Ghanaian government, through its Mission, has also been supplying logistics, and so far, each student has received five hundred United States dollars (US$500) from the Embassy.

He further stated that the government is in constant touch with experts on the subject, who advise that the basic principle of public health is to confine the disease to the area of its origin. However, the option of evacuating students from China has not been ruled out.

“The government is in constant touch with experts on the subject, who advise that the basic principle of public health is to confine the disease to the area of its origin, but we have not ruled out the option of evacuating the students from Wuhan, if that becomes necessary. We have put in place measures to ensure that their evacuation back into Ghana, if it happens, does not lead to the dissemination of fear and panic among the general population”.