The rise in coronavirus cases shows that Akufo-Addo has failed – Sammy Gyamfi

The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi says President Akufo-Addo made a bankrupt statement when he said the increase in a number of people testing positive for the Coronavirus is not a failure of his government’s efforts to contain the pandemic in his last address to the nation.

Sammy Gyamfi in an interview on Accra-based Asempa FM stated that the increase in the numbers is as a result of government’s inability to contain the community spread of the virus of which the accumulated positive testing results serve as proof to the claim.

President Akufo-Addo in his 9th address to the nation on measures taken by his administration to combat the pandemic indicated that the number of recorded Coronavirus cases in the country is going up due to accelerated efforts by the government to test more people and the contacts of those that had already tested positive.

“They need to make such comments for their political survival….Without these enhanced efforts, the numbers which stand at 4,700 [as of Sunday May 10, 2020] would only have been at 1,413 more than 3,200 less.”

But Sammy Gyamfi hinted that “If 4,700 people are infected with the virus with over 80% [3,760] having no travel history, then it means that you have failed on the simple task that is stopping the spread of the virus."

"This is the argument. He has disappointed the country. Vietnam has done more than 300,000 tests but has recorded 288 cases. This is fighting the virus. This is ensuring that the virus doesn’t spread and it is so because they have adopted aggressive measures to contain the virus."

"Uganda has tested over 56,767 cases but has only recorded 116 positive cases so what is the President saying?”

“When we test, which in itself is a good thing, and we record a low number of positive cases, we can confidently say we are winning the fight but for the President to say his government efforts has ensured that many positive covid-19 patients have been detected through his enhanced contact tracing is to our survival."

"We need enhanced measures in stopping the community spread of the virus."

"We shouldn’t be recording more positive cases in the first place if they are really fighting the virus. Our testing records should reflect the low number of recorded cases like in Vietnam and Uganda for example who have tested more cases than us yet have fewer positive cases.”

Sammy Gyamfi again noted that President Akufo-Addo failed to heed to the advice of public health experts and virologists to close the country’s borders when Ghana recorded its first two Coronavirus cases.