Churches flouting coronavirus protocols – Ghana Health Service

The Head of Disease Surveillance Department at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has blamed the surge in coronavirus cases in the country to the change in the attitude towards the safety protocols in churches, mosques and other gathering centres.

Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe said churches and mosques are the places people respect rules and regulations but people have started greetings and hugs in churches and mosques.

Four more persons have died from Covid-19 according to the latest Covid-19 update published on the Ghana Health Service’s website. The deaths total 320.

Per the update, 589 people currently have the virus in the country. This figure suggests a trend of steady rise in active cases in the country.

Three persons confirmed to be with the virus are said to be in critical condition with two of them currently on ventilators.

The new information has sparked fears that the country’s significant gains in the fight against Covid-19 may have hit a snag as the number of active cases in the last two weeks has been on the rise.

Only five out of the country’s 16 regions are without active cases and these are the Oti, North East, Northern, Savannah and Upper West regions.

Greater Accra has the most number of active cases, 348, followed by arrivals at the Kotoka International Airport, 78, before the Bono and Ashanti regions with 37 and 18 cases respectively.

Reacting to the issue on Monday on Onua FM’s Yen Sempa hosted by Nana Okyere Awurukuo, Dr Asiedu-Bekoe explained: “We have changed our character. We knew people respect rules in churches but now we don’t obey the rules.”

He said, “we have started greeting even in churches so we can’t put the blame solely on the political activities”.

“Mask wearing is the ultimate preventive measure against Covid-19.”

Dr Asiedu-Bekoe warned that Ghana cannot handle the situation that is currently happening elsewhere so “we should take our health into our own hands and be safe”.