Brief lockdown could reawaken lax populace – Alex Segbefia

Akex Segbefia, a former Health Minister, has said there is the need for a drastic reawakening of the public to the existing and looming threats of coronavirus.

According to him, government should consider a brief lockdown if need be, to get the message across because over the months, a lot of laxity has set in despite the threat.

He admitted that lockdowns were expensive and uncomfortable and that he personally did not subscribe to them. “Lockdowns are expensive,” he submitted during a weekly news analysis program on Accra-based Citi FM.

“But if for nothing at all… I’m not saying it should be done. I am just giving it as a hypothetical thought. If you lock down the country for a week and open it again, a message will go round to all of Ghana that ‘why are we locking down, why are we not allowed to move?’ COVID is around.

“So the awareness will come back to people, but if you just go on radio talking to people, because you have already given the impression that everything is okay, everybody is lackadaisical about it. It is them, it won’t get to me.

Ghana’s coronavirus cases have continued on an upward trajectory. Government has ramped up efforts to enforce especially twin safety protocols of mask-wearing and ban on certain categories of gatherings.

“(If) the easiest way is to lock us down for five days, I am not saying that lengthy lockdown of a month; just so that people become aware. And then look at what you can do quickly within that three to five to one week period that might be of use, it may be worthwhile for the government to think of such a measure,” he further submitted.

Meanwhile, new variants of the virus have been recorded in Ghana. Information minister-designate Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the patients involved are currently receiving treatment.