Coronavirus: Report Yourself For Screening – Sam George To MPs Who Tripped To Virus-Hit Countries

The Member of Parliament for the Ningo Prampram constituency, Samuel Nartey George has urged his colleague legislators who returned from some Coronavirus-hit countries to voluntarily present themselves to medical screening to ensure their safety.

According to him, this will also encourage the public to do same.

Ghana confirmed two cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020.

According to the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the two imported the virus into the country after returning to Ghana from Norway and Turkey.

“Both individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey. So these are imported cases of COVID-19,” the Health Minister said.

Speaking to Citi News, Sam George who recently returned from the UK urged the government to put measures in place to allow people to self-report easily.

“We need to institute a measure for self-reporting and one best way we can show an example in leadership is when individuals of the executive and the legislature report themselves to be tested. I have said that I am willing to be tested because I just came back from the UK last Saturday and I know some Members of Parliament who had just come from Norway, Algeria and South Korea in the past week and these are all countries where the virus is extremely infecting people so we need to have members of the executive and the legislature subject themselves to test. This will encourage members of the general public to also submit themselves to test,” he said.

Confirmed cases in Ghana

While confirming the two cases in Ghana, the Health Minister said laboratory tests from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research proved that the two individuals had coronavirus.

The Ministry said efforts have been put in place for contact-tracing of people who came into contact with the affected patients.

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah subsequently said the two had been in the country for close to a week after they returned from Norway and Turkey.

This revelation had caused some fear and panic among Ghanaians.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana and the UN office in Ghana have both shut down because the two coronavirus patients were staff of the institutions.

Ghana’s preparedness

The Ministry of Health has designated the Ridge Hospital and the Tema General Hospital as centres to manage cases of coronavirus in the country.

It said the move is part of Ghana's plans to prevent and control any case that may be detected in the country and ultimately protect the Ghanaian population.

In a statement dated Monday, January 27, 2020, the Ministry said it has triggered the country's emergency preparedness and response plan amidst the rising number of infections from the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in other countries of the world.

The Ministry said Regional Directors must designate treatment centres in their respective regions to deal with cases if they arise.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, March 13, 2020, directed the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to make available the cedi equivalent of US$100 million to enhance Ghana's Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.

How to protect yourself

To prevent the spread, the standard recommendations coming from the WHO is regular hand washing, covering one's mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs.

People are also advised to avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.