B&FT Editorial: Eternal vigilance should be the watchword

Health Minister Kweku Agyeman Manu, on Tuesday 4 February 2020, addressed Parliament and revealed that government has allocated GHC2.5million as a start-up to fund to fight the Corona Virus.

This proves that government is not leaving anything to chance, and this should send signals of confidence Ghanaians that despite not recording any symptoms of the virus yet, preparations are being put in place. The Ministry of Health has therefore initiated the process to procure 10,000 pieces of personal protective equipment for the use of all our frontline health workers, Mr. Agyeman-Manu told lawmakers.

He told the House that insurance cover for all frontline workers who may be engaged to do this work for us is being procured.

More than two dozen nations have reported cases of Corona Virus, but so far no confirmations have been made across Africa or Latin America except for one Cameroonian living in China; but that suggests the virus may not be too far away, considering the number of Ghanaians who regularly visit China to purchase goods.

Indeed, this Paper is happy that government is not resting on its oars and is taking precautionary measures to contain the virus should it spread to our jurisdiction.

However, a concern to many Ghanaians is that many Chinese nationals who are temporarily domiciled here have gone back to China to celebrate the Lunar New Year and should be coming back after the festivities. We urge our port and immigration officials to be on the lookout for any carrier of the virus when they touch down in Accra.

We need to exercise extreme vigilance in times like these, since the virus is devastating many communities.

Corona Viruses are spread through air-droplets expelled when an infected individual coughs or sneezes within a range of about 3 feet. Health professionals across the world are working around the clock to find a cure for the disease.