In the past weeks, the streets of Ghana have been dominated with numerous activities predominantly election campaigns and Christmas activities and as a result the country has seen a spike in the case count and a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The current spike has been alarming and citizens fear the virus will spread further and this has triggered concerns from various stakeholders and health professionals over the adherence to the various safety protocols outlined by government.
Dr Justice Yankson, General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA)
Dr Justice Yankson, General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) commenting on the current development with the spread of the virus, is calling for a concerted effort in educating the public on the need to strictly adhere to COVID-19 protocols following recent surge.
According to him, the call will help reduce pressure on frontline workers and existing health facilities across the country.
This call comes on the back of various stakeholders and the GMA itself, attributing the spike to the failure on the part of citizens to adhere to the safety protocols outlined by the government and health officials and also the complete disregard for measures by the various political parties during their various campaign activities.
“Clearly our activities during the Christmas, New Year, before, during and after the election put together like one-month period has contributed to what we all are experiencing now, that is why we are asking that we observe the COVID protocols to break the chain of transmission.”
The President in his address on measures taken against the virus, lauded the efforts of the health professionals by commending them on the work done on the affected persons.
“… our heroic health workers who continue to care for those affected by the virus and the sick in general.”
But against this compliment, the GMA averred that, frontline workers are already exhausted and fatigued, having worked for close to a year in the fight against mitigating the spread of the pandemic and have asked citizens to adhere to protocols, warning them of impending dangers ahead should in case the second wave of the virus gets out hand.
“If we don’t do that and this second wave gets out of hand then we are going to struggle. Mind you the health professionals themselves are already fatigued, having gone through this for a whole year, they are also fatigued, a lot of them are getting infected because people are walking into the health facilities unlike previously when you will be at home and they will reach out to you.”
As it stands, Ghana’s current COVID-19 case count is at 56,421. There has been recorded cases of 191 new infections increasing the case count of active cases to 1,330. The number of discharged patients is 54,753 with a death toll of 338.
On the back of this, the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, wants public figures and celebrities to jump on board and use their influence to help educate the public on the need to observe COVID-19 safety protocols.
