Tickling Ourselves And Laughing At Coronavirus

When Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom got Covid-19, he opened up about it, and assured everyone of his safety and that he was going to be working from home.

Again, when Prince Charles, Prince of Wales got it, it was announced and he self-isolated.

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada was exposed to it by his beautiful wife, Sophie Grégoire, he came public about it and got himself quarantined at home.

Idris Elba, a popular Hollywood actor tested positive to it, he took to Twitter to announce it.

Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria was exposed to it by his aid, it was announced and he resolved to work from home.

And the list goes on and on...

In Ghana, God has been so good to us that not even one of our leaders has the disease. (Hard to believe though). However, if it is true that some of our leaders have the disease and they keep it a secret then we must be living dangerously as a country.

For whatever reasons, (which I will consider parochial) it is almost a taboo for our leaders, especially African leaders to come out publicly about their ill-health. If that is how we are going to fight against Covid-19, then we must be tickling ourselves and laughing.

You might want to understand how coming out publicly as an infected leader help in the fight against this disease. It is not far-fetched:

1. Coming public about it tells the citizens that you are as human as anyone else.

2. It deepens awareness of the danger of this disease.

3. You gain public sympathy and support.

4. It will demystify the misconceptions about the disease.

5. People can report cases without fear of stigma.

6. It will quicken the fight against the disease.

I think it is time we changed our mindset about these things and leadership must show the way.

Francis Sanusi

Columnist

Development Communication Student @ GIJ

An Entrepreneur and School Teacher