Dr. Issah Imoro Writes: On Tougher Measures To Contain Coronavirus Spread

It appears the GES and perhaps Government by extension does not have the balls enough to suspend school-based classes for a period of time. I may be wrong and perhaps their health experts and advisers are more knowledgeable than me but if there is a lesson we have learned from this Coronavirus pandemic it is that if you run away from tough measures, you end up instituting more tougher measures only after the damage has been caused. This is not to downplay the good efforts and measures instituted by the Government so far which deserve commendation but rather it is just to draw their attention to this very important matter.

When it started in Wuhan, Officials downplayed the impact of disease and refused to seal off Wuhan as well as ban Public events. The consequence was devastating and they finally instituted tougher measures only after more harm had been caused.

In the US, at the time when Pres. Trump was bluffing they had minimum cases, there was an active community spread of the disease. When it blew out, he started to institute tougher measures like cancelling all flights from Europe (except the UK). He just announced in a press conference today March 13, 2020, that the Coronavirus situation was a National Emergency.

In Iran, it was a similar story when authorities refused to suspend the local elections. They ended up suffering dire consequences and are still struggling to control the virus spread even after instituting tougher measures.

The same is to be said of Italy, Spain, Norway, Germany, UK and other European countries who initially refused to take tough measures but are now implementing desperate measures like total lockdown only after havoc had already been wrecked.

We are not praying for the worse and I am confident Ghana and the World at large will overcome this Coronavirus pandemic by the help of Allah but it is important to put the health of our school children at the various levels at a high priority. Temporarily suspending campus-based teaching for a week or two is the trending protocol adopted by many countries to safeguard the health of students and also to cut the lifeline of the Virus spread by the help of Allah. This will not in any way affect the education of the children.

This is our humble plea to the Government and the educational authorities. Let us not be deluded by the low number of cases and deaths recorded in sub-Saharan Africa. The situation could evolve badly in a very fast manner within a day as we have witnessed in other countries and putting the necessary steps in place to reduce the negative impact of the disease is very important.

We ask Allah for safety and well-being...Aameen!

Written by:

Dr. Issah Imoro

([email protected])