Coronavirus: Mandatory quarantine was my idea, govt rejected it at the early stages - Mintah Akandoh

A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) COVID-19 Rapid Response Team, Mintah Akandoh believes Ghana would not have recorded any case of the global scourge if the Akufo-Addo government had worked with his earlier suggestion to subject people entering the country through the borders or airport to mandatory quarantine.

To him, our worst fears have been realized with some carriers of the Coronavirus having had contacts with Ghanaians resident in the country, before President Akufo-Addo's directive on mandatory quarantine came into effect.

Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, the Ranking Member on Health Committee in Parliament, while commending the Akufo-Addo government for the current measures on mandatory quarantine in place, was emphatic that the NDCs COVID-19 Rapid Response Team was not set up to rival any national body or committee.

“…the way we are conducting the quarantine, I admire it a lot and that was what I earlier said; the government should have quarantined every traveler after testing them at the airport before they are allowed in. If we had adhered to my suggestion earlier, and we even recorded 1000 cases at the isolation centers, I will not be scared..."

“If we were able to arrest them at the borders and at the airport and detained them to test them to establish those who are positive and had recorded 1 million cases, I will not be scared”, he reiterated.

He feared that with the recorded cases shifting from the vertical to horizontal transmission, "some people who are possible carriers of the virus have already entered into the country and interacted with people, making it more deadly now."

Touching on the recent fumigation exercise at the various market places, the Juaboso lawmaker stressed that though laudable, it must be done regularly.

“Some people have also said that the fumigation which took place on Monday was good, whether we have COVID-19 or not, it is important that we regularly engage in such exercise of fumigating our market places…but the fumigation in principle was a good exercise”, Mintah Akandoh added.