On Sunday afternoon, I had a Whatsapp chat with a friend of mine who recently contracted the novel coronavirus and is recovering.
During our chat, my friend told me how the Government was blaming citizens for not observing the coronavirus safety protocols during the Christmas holidays but ignoring the fact that they (politicians) failed to observe the safety protocols during the elections.
My friend went on to say the President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government has adopted a “shambolic” and “lackadaisical” approach to testing for Coronavirus in Ghana.
Then on Sunday night, January 17, 2021, just few hours I chatted with my friend, President Akufo-Addo came to update the nation about measures being taken to curb the spread of coronavirus in Ghana.
It was his update No. 22 and he started by announcing that he had “unpleasant” news to tell the nation.
What was the unpleasant news?
The President announced that covid-19 cases were surging once again in Ghana. He told the nation how active cases have risen from about 900 last week to 1,924.
He announced that the Ghana Health Service was recording on average, 200 new cases daily, reporting that Ghana’s covid-19 treatment centres have gone from zero patients to full. He lamented how severe cases have moved from 18 last week to 120, and that even though there were no critical cases two weeks ago, Ghana now have 33 critical cases, adding that deaths related to the virus have increased from 338 to 352.
Histories of patients, blame game
The President then turned his attention away from giving the statistics to giving an indication about the kinds of persons who have contracted Coronavirus in Ghana in recent weeks.
According to him, “detailed investigations of the cases indicated that, apart from arriving passengers at our airport who tested positive, infected persons have recent histories of attending parties, weddings, end of year office programmes, family get-togethers, and funerals.”
He noted that “at these gatherings, most of them abandoned the use of the masks, and were engaged in actions that led to them contracting the virus.”
Mr Akufo-Addo went on to note that statistics from the Ghana Health Service showed that “the considerable number of persons who were severely ill were, surprisingly, relatively youthful persons, with no previous underlying health conditions.”
Questions
Nowhere in the President’s address did he make reference to the recently held December 7, 2020 general elections being possibly a contributing factor to the rise in coronavirus.
During the campaigns, most politicians grossly disobeyed the covid-19 safety protocols. Even one of the President’s own event I attended prior to the elections in the Prestea Hunny Valley of the Western Region, there was no social distancing among the crowd and many were not wearing face masks. There were Security details with the President, they saw people not wearing face masks, but they did nothing even though the President had during one of his updates mandated the wearing of face masks. So what about the elections? Hasn’t the disregard for safety protocols at the campaigns cause the rise in coronavirus as we are seeing now? Why are politicians sounding like the large crowds we saw in markets during the Christmas holidays have the potential to spread coronavirus faster but the large crowds we saw during their political rallies and/campaigns across the country before and during the December 7, 2020 Elections, do not have the potential to spread coronavirus?
Now, with the reopening of the Kotoka International Airport on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, President Akufo-Addo told the nation that all international arrivals will be tested for Coronavirus at the Airport upon arrival before entering Ghana. He went on to say that all international arrivals will be required to show a negative PCR test taken at least within 72 hours before traveling to Ghana by air. Each traveler, we were told by the President, was to pay $150 for covid-19 test in Ghana.
Now, what was the coronavirus testing arrangements for the dignitaries that came to grace the swearing-in of Mr Akufo-Addo on January 7, 2021? The dignitaries came into contact with their Ghanaian counterparts at the swearing-in ceremony. Those Ghanaians have families and friends they have since come into contact with as well after the swearing-in ceremony. There is a health implications here.
We saw the Heads of State arriving through the VIP section of the Kotoka International Airport and being received by then Senior Minister, Osafo Mafo. What we did not see, perhaps publicly was testing of the Heads of State.
Were the Heads of State and their entourage and several diplomats that came to Ghana for swearing-in, tested upon arrival?
Were they granted diplomatic immunity from Coronavirus testing? Were they made to show their negative PCR test? Did they pay $150 for covid-19 testing? If they did not pay the $150, but were tested, was it the Ghanaian Government that paid for their testing? Were there anyone among who returned a positive test in case they were tested and what was done as far as treatment and isolation are concerned?
Disclaimer: The thoughts of the author, Melvin Tarlue, do not represent the views of African Entertainment
