Ghana has enhanced its reputation globally for effective coronavirus management - Bawumia

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said Ghana adopted innovative approaches to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, which has enhanced her reputation globally.

According to him, the World Health Organization (WHO) rated Ghana among the best top six countries in the world for effective tackling of the pandemic.

Dr Bawumia lauded the inter-ministerial and inter-agency partnerships in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the call for a national blue print to serve as a benchmark for managing future public health emergencies.

Vice President Bawumia made the remarks at an appraisal ceremony of the National Security Operation COVID-19 Taskforce in Accra, to assess the strategies put in place to contain the pandemic and chart the way forward.

The Vice President observed that the COVID-19 pandemic was a threat to national security and lack of blue print, led to the setting up of a general framework for survival and technical taskforce that applied three Ts-Testing, Tracing and Treatment-in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice President Bawumia commended faith-based and civil society organisations for their enormous support in the successful management of the pandemic and commended the National Security COVID-19 Technical Committee for the yeoman's job.

He also called on all well-meaning Ghanaians to avoid complacency and adhere strictly to the preventive directives, especially the wearing of nose masks, to avert any potential spikes.

He said President Akufo-Addo’s leadership in tackling the pandemic was crucial and phenomenal, especially by relying on science and data from health experts in taking decisions. Over the past six months, Ghana had recorded 45,655 confirmed COVID-19 cases after conducting more than 450,000 tests.

Currently, Ghana has the lowest infectious rate in the Sub-Saharan Africa, with less than 600 active cases and over 44,000 recoveries, representing 97.5 per cent, with 294 deaths, representing 0.64 per cent fatality rate.

Mr Henry Quartey, the Deputy Minister of National Security, who chaired the National Technical COVID-19 Committee, read their report and recommendations.

The Committee recommended the increase in testing capacity of infectious diseases in the country, establishment of a National Strategic Stockpile to manage future public health emergencies, and ensuring uniformity and compliance in all protocols.

Other recommendations included; the urgent need to provide impetus to the National Relief Fund which could provide immediate support for deployment of personnel and coordination of appropriate responses to national emergencies.

Mr Albert Ken Dapaah, the Minister of National Security, in his welcome remarks, said the inter-ministerial and inter-agency collaboration had paid off and saluted all those who sacrificed their time and energies towards the implementation of government's strategies to contain the pandemic.

He commended the faith-based and civil society organizations including; the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Pentecost Church, Ghana National Association of Teachers for releasing their facilities to be used as isolation and treatment centres.