The Ghanaian Times yesterday published on its front page a story that the government had commended Ghanaians, especially frontline health workers of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), for their commitment towards the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, and this must not pass without comments.
According to the government, it was pleased with the commitment and sacrifices made by Ghanaians towards defeating the disease so far.
At a press conference in Kumasi yesterday, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the government was pleased with the roles the various stakeholders had played towards the eradication of the virus from the country.
“Much as we express concern that some Ghanaians are already taking things for granted, we commend the populace, especially stakeholders such as the medical community and parents whose wards have been in school.
“As of this morning, our active cases stand at 831 and we will continue to work towards containing the situation and eventually winning this war. We thank the President for his leadership and the people of Ghana for keeping faith with him,” he said.
We recall that Ghana first recorded its index case of the virus on March 12, 2020, and subsequently, the government and stakeholders have followed it up with different measures to curtail its spread.
Some of the stringent measures are closure of schools, ban on all social gatherings, and a temporary lockdown with restrictions on movement of people in the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi.
According to the Minister, the measures were part of the government’s five-part strategy for eradicating the virus, emphasizing that the decline in active cases was because of the government’s strict adherence to this strategy.
Though this five-part strategy has often been criticised by the opponents of the government, the Minister praised stakeholders for the show of confidence and support in the fight against the virus.
“We are pleased that the majority of Ghanaians have supported our efforts and have played their part. The exception has been the few who, for parochial political interests, have always sought to undermine the government’s efforts.
“Contrary to their efforts to always discourage people from following the government’s laid-down approach and to seek the occasion to also bastardise every step the government has taken so far, stakeholders have shown support, resilience and good judgment.
“As we have gradually commenced easing restrictions, Ghanaians have not responded to the scare mongering and other undermining tactics aimed at discouraging the government’s efforts,” the Minister said.
We add our voice to that of the Minister in patting the health workers in particular at the back for the front role they continue to play in these difficult times to keep us safe from the pandemic.
We salute all of them and all those who unfortunately fell by the way side. We extend our sympathies to all those gallant men and women who contracted COVID-19 and died.
It is important for the country to honour these courageous health workers and erect COVID-19 monuments in honour of the departed ones so that we would never forget them.
It is also crucial that while praising ourselves for a good fight and observing the continuous decline in active cases, we do not let our guards down but continue to adhere strictly to the safety protocols of washing of hands with soap under running, water, sanitising and wearing of nose masks at all times
