Coronavirus: Ghana’s situation alarming and dire – GMA warns

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has warned that the COVID-19 situation in the country is alarming and dire at this particular moment with the risk of a potential exponential rise in the number of cases.

According to the GMA, this development calls for concern by all well-meaning Ghanaians and organisations because the rise in Coronavirus cases can be attributed to “the total disregard for, and the lack of enforcement of all relevant COVID-19 preventive protocols throughout the country” and the “importation of cases from other countries via travellers arriving at the point(s) of entry”.

The GMA in a statement on January 14, 2021, noted that in the last couple of weeks just before, during and after the Christmas and New Year festivities, the COVID-19 case count in the country has sharply increased.

“The various major health facilities [especially in the Accra Metropolis] involved in the management of moderate, severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients are overstretched,” the statement noted.

Ghana’s active COVID-19 cases which remained less than 800 before the Christmas festivities have shot up to 1,420 as of 11th January.

This development has been a major concern for many pundits who believe there is a second wave of the outbreak which is not receiving as much national attention as the first.

The GMA has, therefore, asked for an urgent scale-up of COVID-19 testing and contact tracing regime for all positive cases, as well as strict isolation and management of all infected persons to help break the chain of transmission.

“Additional, COVID-19 testing should be made free or relatively cheaper for the ordinary Ghanaian who needs testing as a result of direct exposure or when symptomatic for COVID-19. Furthermore, there should be government-led free mass testing in all identified COVID-19 hotspots,” the statement reads on.

This, the GMA believes, will help address the current shot falls in our testing and contact tracing regimes.

The GMA further called for health workers to be provided with adequate PPEs to help them discharge their duties safely and effectively.

Read below the GMA statement.