Ghanaian Times Editorial: How prepared are we for the fatal coronavirus?

Within the past week, many countries across the world have stepped up efforts to counter the spread of coronavirus which was first discovered at Wuhan in China, last month.

The United States of America (USA), France, Australia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries have so far recorded various cases of infection.

Here in Ghana, the government has established a National Technical Coordinating Committee of experts as a national response to deal with the control of the deadly outbreak should it surface in the country.

Also, a case definition is currently being developed to help health practitioners detect and manage potential cases.

The Ministry of Health (MoH), in a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday, further said, that the Ridge Hospital and the Tema General Hospital have been designated as initial case management centres.

The Ministry also directed all regional directors of health to designate treatment centres in their respective regions.

“We are preparing to designate more centres in the highly populated areas in Accra, Takoradi and Tamale and also develop social media messages for the general public to inform the public on the disease and to inculcate the necessary preventive measures,” it said.

The Ghanaian Times commends the government for acting swiftly in readiness for the outbreak which has caused the death of more than 130 people in China alone.

We recognise the importance of instituting preventive and control measures since the virus is traveling at a fast pace to all parts of the globe.

We further add our voices to the government’s call on the public to ensure they regularly washed their hands with soap and water, use alcohol hand rub where available and keep a distance of at least one step or a metre away from a person showing signs of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.

As was contained in the government’s statement, we urge the public to also take seriously the advice that people should avoid touching sick persons or potentially infected surfaces or objects and must prioritise good eating habit, drinking of plenty water and having enough rest for total wellbeing.

The government’s emergency plans will fail and we would be exposed to the dangers of the coronavirus if the public is less cooperative and unsupportive.

The Ghanaian Times urges Ghanaians to be conscious of their personal health and support efforts to curb a possible spread of the outbreak in the country.