Coronavirus: WACCBIP scientist rejects lockdown suggestions in Accra

Senior Research Fellow at the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of Ghana, Dr. Peter Quashie, has shot down suggestions for another lockdown to be imposed on some parts of the country.

These suggestions were borne out of a study by scientists at the University of Ghana, estimating that about a million people in Accra alone have been exposed to the novel Coronavirus.

The study was conducted in public places including municipal markets and lorry stations in Accra and Kasoa, shopping malls in Accra, and COVID-19 testing centres and other research institutions/health centres in Accra.

Speaking on Campus Exclusive, Dr. Peter Quarshie acknowledged that a lockdown may not be effective in containing the spread of the virus.

“I think we are passed lockdown. If you look at Spain and UK, even with all the cases and deaths we saw, they reached 5% when they did a similar study to ours in the highest intensity zones. Once you are at 20% you can’t do a lockdown, it has to be targeted and I think GHS to an extent knows where ongoing transmissions are happening,” he said.

Dr. Quarshie suggests that the government rather finds a targetted way of testing and isolating persons infected by the virus.

He says that it is a better alternative to a discriminated lockdown.

Meanwhile, he is calling on the public to strictly adhere to COVID-19 protocols even as the government is easing restrictions.

“I would say that once restrictions are being eased the only thing we can do is to police it, making sure people are adhering to the protocols and you ought to have policies in place to test and isolate them. I am not for a lockdown scenario because I think covid fatigue is real and humans by nature we don’t like to follow rules. It starts from the policeman enforcing the law to also adhere to it,” he said.