Elorm Korda , the Research and Advocacy director of Bureau of Public Safety has appealed to the government of Ghana to opt for total locked down to save the country’s health facilities from being overwhelmed as the country continues to record increasing cases of Coronavirus.
Justifying his assertion, he made mention of the fact that Ghana is currently unable to allow voluntary testing where people can go to a heath facilities to check their status, rather the country is relying on citizens who have shown enough sign to be carriers of the Covid-19 to be tested.
According to him, the current condition of the state which clearly indicates inadequate resources to deal with the situation proves that if the government does not opt for a locked down, more cases are likely to be recoded and obviously the health system will be overwhelmed.
He spoke to Osikani Frimpong Manso on Adekye Mu Nsem on Spice Fm 91.9 this morning on what the government must do to save the situation .
“Ghana’s health system lacks the capacity to deal with mass outbreak. Per our current situation Ghana is unable to allow “Walk through Testing” where people can approach a facility and test on their own. The country lacks enough test kits, Personal Protective equipments and Ventilators tother jurisdiction with the capacities are still over whelmed
Due to the lack of logistics to deal with the issue Ghana has resorted to solely testing peope who have shown serious signs and symptoms which means if this is the state of our health system it means any escalation in the country will be dangerous for the country “
Emphasising on the urgent need of the locked down decision by government, he lamented on the increasing trends of Covid-19 Since March 13th
“From 13th March where Ghana recorded it first case to 24th March the graph has been showing an upward movement in Coronavirus cases and contact tracing figures which call for stringent measure to deal with potential rise.
This diffiency according to him makes Ghana more vulnerable if there is a massive spread therefore a total locked down is the best alternative.”
He added that this will also enable Ghana have an effective contact tracing
Economic Impact
Obviously a shut down means a massive tole on the economic activities in the country. Yet Elorm Korda believes it’s an economic wise decision to endure the immediate and short term impact of a locked down than to wait for the pandemic to get out of hand which will be more expensive to deal with.
“The decision might affects us in the immediate and short term basis if an immediate decision is not taken, we could experience a condition closer to that of Italy. Whether the country likes it or not most economies in the world have been affected by the lock down decision. Ghana will lose more lesser if a spread is prevented through a lock down than to wait for the pandemic to get out of hand
