Ghana has shown the world a better and effective ways of fighting the infamous COVID-19. The country recorded 2 positive cases on 12 march, 2020 when two people returned from Norway and Turkey.
Ghanaian authorities jumped into actions after the 2 reported cases and instituted effective and smart strategies that averted what could have become an uncontrollable and dangerous spread of the virus among Ghanaians.
The closure of Ghana’s borders, public gatherings , mandatory quarantine of people who entered the country on the eve of the border closure, effective contact tracing and testing , treatment, isolation and partial lockdown of two affected regions were among the strategies employed by the Ghanaian authorities to contain the virus after the first 2 recorded cases a month ago.
Ghana has so far through its aggressive Trace, Test, treat and Isolate strategy has been able to conduct over 50,719 COVID-19 tests. The highest COVID-19 test so far in Africa and 2oth in the world per capita. Its current testing rate now stands at 1,632 test per 1 million people.
It is however not surprising that, the country has been able to contain the spread of the virus in the local populations through its Trace, Test Treat and isolate strategy after a month of case detection which have beat the imagination of advance countries. As at 16th April 2020, Ghana recorded 641 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
According to the ministry of information, 13,838 persons have been tested under the routine surveillance. Out of which, 268 were positive, representing 1.9 %.
2011 tests were conducted on people who came into the country and arrived at the Kotoka International Airport and Tamale. Out of the number, 105 tested positives representing 5.28%.
In Tamale, out of the 11 people who tested for COVID-19, 10 were positive. For the Enhanced contact tracing and testing, 34,859 have been tested. Out of that, 258 were positive also representing 0.7%. 83 persons have recovered while 17 are waiting to conduct a second test with 8 deaths.
With the statistics above, Ghana has demonstrated to the world that, with the right strategies and leadership the world can overcome the Coronavirus pandemic.
All things being equal, with such a success rate after a month of activities against the COVID-19, Ghana is in a position to ease restrictions and gradually return to normalcy to enable the economy heave a sigh of relief and at the same time reduce the economic burdens of millions of Ghanaians who are mostly self-employed subsistence farmers and owners of small businesses mostly affected by the COVID-19 .
Ghana government can begin easing restrictions by following some of these guidelines:
1. Opening of businesses
- Businesses should be allowed to operate
- Every citizen going out must be asked to wear nose mask.
- Social Distancing should still be observed . 2 meters safety distance must be encouraged among citizens.
2. Lifting of Flight restriction
-All air passengers arriving in the country should be mandatorily quarantine for 2 weeks at the expense of air passengers.
Only Ghanaians citizens , residents , Diplomats and Essential visitors should be allowed for the time being.
- Air-Passengers living in Accra can be asked to self-quarantine at home and those outside Accra can be housed in hotels.
-All arriving air passengers must be made to wear nose mask before outboarding . This should be a requirement for all international airlines operating in the country.
3. Restrictions on Public Gathering should still be enforced.
- Public gathering can be approved if the organisers can adhere to the 2 meter safety distance and all attendees allowed to wear nose mask.
Ghana maintaining and enhancing its current COVID-19 surveillance and at the same time easing restrictions on citizens with strict instructions will not only return the country into the path of economic recovery , but will also help lessen the economic burdens of individuals citizens whose livelihoods have been greatly affected in these time of restrictions as the nation battles COVID-19.
Opinion.
Gabriel Mwini