Coronavirus: People should eat only thoroughly cooked meat

The public has been urged to only eat thoroughly cooked meat or food to prevent being infected by COVID-19 and other viral infections.

“Greens and vegetables, which are eaten raw should also be thoroughly and washed, soaked in salty water for about thirty minutes and rinsed in clean water if the salt needs to be taken off," Dr Kwadwo Obeng Wiredu, a former Senior Veterinary Officer in charge of the Greater Accra Region, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

He explained that extreme heat, as well as a good concentration of salt, easily killed off viruses.

He said because some people handling foodstuffs could infect these foods with the novel Coronavirus virus it was necessary for all foods to be treated with the due suspicion, especially considering the nature of the pandemic, which was threatening the world.

Dr Obeng-Wiredu said most of the greens eaten in the country contained vitamin C, which when taken in the right quantities, immensely strengthened the immune system.

The Senior Veterinarian, therefore, urged the public to increase their intake of greens and fruits in order to boost their immune system against any potential viral attacks.

He also reminded the public to continue practising all the preventive measures against COVID-19 infection, including frequently washing their hands with soap under running water, using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, wearing face masks in public places and observing the social distancing rule.

"This virus is new and we are yet to find a cure for it and understand it better so we need to prevent people from getting infected as much as possible," Dr Wiredu said.

He urged the media to endeavour to interview only qualified persons, such as health experts, to address the technical issues on the pandemic to ensure that the information published was accurate.

"This is a situation that has affected the whole world. It is, therefore, crucial that only information that is credible and from trustworthy sources is churned out," Dr Obeng-Wiredu said.

Ghana has recorded more than 24,000 Covid-19 infections with more than 20,000 recoveries and over 130 deaths.