Coronavirus: Strictly enforce measures, apply sanctions – Prof. Dodoo

Ghana’s fight against Coronavirus requires the enforcement of health protocols in place and the application of sanctions for people that flout the protocols.

This is the view of Director-General of the Ghana Standards Authority, GSA, Professor Alexander Dodoo. Ghanaweb monitored his submissions today on Accra-based Joy FM’s Ultimate Health program.

On the subject of the virus upsurge, Prof Dodoo remarked: “Mask wearing dropped from 80% to about 4%. The current measures should be enforced to the latter and the state prescribed sanctions should be applied,” he submitted.

For his part, co-panelist, Dr. Michael Owusu, a virologist with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, cautioned about the likely potential of increased hospitalizations if measures are not strictly adhered to.

“The virus is currently taking its natural path and not doing anything at all will mean that a lot of people will be hospitalized as compared to putting measures in place.

“Data indicates that, the virus does not follow a linear curve but an exponential curve, that is, if 3 deaths were recorded in a day, it will increase by two or more folds the next day,” he added.

Wearing of masks in public is mandatory according to a presidential directive. Police have effected a series of arrests in relation to non compliance. The Ghana Health Service announced days ago that compliance relative to wearing of masks had remarkably increased.

As of February 2, coronavirus statistics according to the Disease Surveillance Department of the Ghana Health Service are as follows:

Caseload = 70,046

Active cases = 6,095

New cases =791

Recoveries = 63,502

Deaths = 449

Ghana’s Covid-19 cases as at 2nd February 2021

Visit https://t.co/IW9gCmy3wm for the details#MaskUpWithDSD pic.twitter.com/5nglrIFtiQ

— Disease Surveillance Dept_GHS (@DSD_GHS) February 6, 2021