Ebola emergency centres not fit for coronavirus – Specialist

Ghana’s foremost aerospace medicine specialist Dr Issaka Yakubu Akparibo has cautioned the government not to make the mistake of using emergency centres mounted to prevent Ebola in 2014 as centres for the new coronavirus disease.

Dr Akparibo says the modes of transmission of the two diseases are “totally different” and so the mechanism in preventing them should also be different. He made this suggestion on Tuesday, February 18 while making a presentation at a public forum on coronavirus organized by Media General in collaboration with Vodafone Ghana.

The forum sought answers to Ghana’s preparedness in case of a possible outbreak.

Dr Akparibo, who is also the Medical Director of Care-Flight Ghana, expressed worry that Ghana is still not prepared to combat Covid-19 in case of an outbreak.

The aerospace medicine specialist said the virus that transmits coronavirus cannot thrive in rooms with negative pressure. Unfortunately, he pointed out, none of the centres said to have been designated for quarantine are at that pressure.

He said new centres should rather be designated for the fight, mentioning however that the personal protective equipment (PPEs) used to fight Ebola can still be used.

“But you need to have boots,” he added, saying the shoes must be disposable after use.

He explained that Ebola revolved around contact with the fluid of an infected person but “with coronavirus we know that that is more of respiratory droplets”.

‘A joke’

Taking his turn on the podium, President of the Institute for Security, Disaster and Emergency Studies Dr Ishmael Norman said Ghana’s measures taken to prevent the disease is “a joke”.

He said the GH¢2.5 million dedicated by the government to fight the disease in case of an outbreak is woefully inadequate.

He laughed off Greater Accra Regional Hospital’s response measures of nine doctors, 26 nurses and two coronavirus centres given the devastative effect of the disease.