‘My mechanic doesn’t want to fix my car’ – Ghanaian COVID-19 recovered patient cries

One of the Ghanaians who has recovered from COVID-19, Frederick Drah, is going through challenges to reintegrate in society.

After sharing his experiences on national TV, Frederick Drah, said his community is refusing to accept his family including his mechanic and barber, who have refused to attend to him.

“The stigma started when I granted an interview on TV. Currently, I’m suffering with that. Because if I could remember, I went to the barbering shop, there was light at the top of the shop but the gentleman just told me that there was no light,” the father of four told Accra-based Starr FM.

He added: “I saw the bulb, the bulb was on, TV was on and he told me there was no light. So, I left knowing that he probably has seen me on the television.”

He continued: “I have an old car I’ve been using and the starter developed a fault. I called my electrician several times to get me another starter, but because he also saw me on TV he decided not to come.”

“Buying from the community hasn’t been easy at all,” he added.

Despite the stigma, Drah said he will not relent on his effort to advocate for people to stay safe. He noted that the situation he is going through is making it difficult for the other 211 recovered patients to come out.

“I just have a message for the entire country that the virus is real. First of all, the stigma aspect of it is that people need education. I am ready to educate my people.”

He added: “Because of this stigma, people who have recovered find it difficult to come and share their story. Those of us who have recovered need to come together to educate the people, but because of the stigma they aren’t. But I am ready to do it. I am ready to go wherever to tell the people that Covid-19 is real and everybody needs to be careful.”

Ghana has recorded 2,074 COVID-19 cases with 212 recoveries and 17 deaths.