Coronavirus: Kpando residents lament ‘uncontrolled’ porous borders

Health workers and residents of Kpando in the Volta Region have expressed worry about what they described as an uncontrolled influx of people from other regions trooping into the Municipality.

According to them, the various entries into the area are too porous as the new faces are not screened to check for any case of the Coronavirus disease.

“As you enter Kpando, there is no single thermometer guns that will be used to screen passengers. So we are appealing to the authorities that they should force for us so that we can also be checked,” they lamented in an interview with Metro News.

The health workers and commercial drivers expressed their fears when the Member of Parliament for Kpando, Dela Sowah, visited the Constituency to donate some detergents including Veronica buckets for hand washing at health facilities, lorry stations and markets.

Meanwhile, health workers at the Margret Maquate Hospital, are also awaiting the results of three suspected COVID-19 cases in the area.

Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Eric Gyamfi bemoaned that all current three suspected coronavirus cases are persons who are not resident in the municipality hence the panic by the locals and health workers.

He noted the lack of Personal Protective (PPEs) to enhance and protect staff in case of an outbreak.

The MP, in response, said “Eastern Region has quite a number of cases and our border with them is very porous and people come by boat and they are driven in from Togo. So these are all areas of concern the citizenry of Kpando.”

Dela Sowah was positive that the municipal authority would do more in effectively responding to COVID-19 in the municipality.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Kpando, Ernest Quist, in an interview also assured residents that thermometer guns and PPEs are being procured in addition to existing efforts to combat the virus in the municipality.