Convert hotels in Ghana to quarantine centres - Epidemiologist suggests

Government has been urged to take over hotels and make them isolation centres in the face of the growing spread of the coronavirus disease in the country.

Professor Fred Binka, an epidemiologist, says Ghana will definitely record higher cases of Covid-19 and it is only prudent for the government to make arrangements now.

He was speaking on The Key Points on TV3/3FM on Saturday, March 14.

The former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) was contributing to discussions on the country’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Prof Binka insisted that the disease will not suddenly leave the shores of Ghana and that even up till next year there will be cases recorded, just like any other epidemic.

He observed that confirmation of two cases of the disease is just the beginning and so the time to act is now.

“Why can’t we take over hotels?” he wondered.

“Those are facilities that we can rent to move people in,” he said.

For him, creating a quarantine centre does not need “a big facility”.

“We might even look at secondary schools with boarding facilities,” he suggested.

Ghana has so far recorded two cases of Covid-19, imported from Norway and Turkey.

The two are said to be in quarantine and in stable condition.

Prof Binka noted that already expatriates who fly into Ghana self-quarantine at hotels and it will be easier to convert most of these facilities for such a purpose.