COVID-19: Lockdown Kumasi, Accra To Curb Spread ―Mathias Tulasi To Akufo-Addo

Mr Mathias Tulasi, the Chief Executive Officer of Literacy Ambassadors Ghana (LAG), a non-governmental organisatio, has called on President Akufo-Addo to be swift in locking down Ashanti and Greater Accra in order to curb the spread of the Conoravirus pandemic.

Mr Mathias Tulasi made this call in reaction to the latest figure on the number of confirmed cases of the Coronavirus.

Below is his full statement:
The Health Minister, Hon Kweku Agyeman-Manu in a statement he signed on Thursday, February 6, 2020, indicated the nine cases including two suspected cases that were reported at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital were all negative.

He further indicated that his outfit and the Ghana Health Service were doing all it takes to ensure that the virus is not imported into the country.

“We wish to provide assurance to the people of Ghana that the Government, Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service is working in collaboration with partners and are doing everything possible to prevent and protect against the importation of the virus into the country and its spread. We continue to advise citizens to remain calm,” he said.

It is now a clear manifestation that the assurance given to fellow Ghanaians by the Health Minister was just vain talks without any proper measure being put in place to avert the importation of the Coronavirus into the country.

The deadly Coronavirus is finally here with us as a nation and it is extremely important we are all at this point conscious of the threats posed by this pandemic, the disturbing trend of community spread and the obvious inadequate capacity of the nation’s health system to deal with the increasing numbers of COVID-19 infection especially in severe to critical cases.

It is important at this critical moment, President Nana Addo listen to the advice of experts and act accordingly to avert the spread of the virus and stop relying on his Health Minister who could not stop the importation of the virus into the country.

I must put on record that Chad had no single reported case of Coronavirus but that country is in a lockdown and took measures we should have taken as a nation about two months ago but as it is said "it is better late than never".

For now, Ashanti and Greater Accra being the epicentres of the Coronavirus pandemic must be on lockdown with moderation and mass testing carried out as recommended by the experts.

The lockdown is no fantasy but looking at how things are going it is a good measure to curb any exponential growth of the number of infected persons in the country.

If people who are affected are determined through very early testing and given medical attention, they would be most likely to recover and reduce the spread of the virus drastically because they would be quarantined.

In the other vain, if everyone within these two regions is allowed to run freely, the number of infected persons will greatly escalate which may lead to several deaths.

The lockdown will have economic and psychological effects on Ghanaians in Ashanti and Greater Accra but should the numbers escalate, it is obvious the repercussions would be far worse than that of a lockdown.

President Nana Akuffo Addo should kindly implement the lockdown starting with these two regions for now and it could be extended to cover the entire nation depending on how events unfold subsequently.

I am entreating those in Ashanti and Greater Accra to abide by the lockdown should President Nana Addo accept its implementation.

I will like to urge our pastors and other religious leaders to support our Doctors and Nurses with prayer as they are doing their possible best to take care of the affected persons and may the souls of those who died Rest in Peace.