President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed concerns over the stigma against people who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease by their relatives, friends and community members.
“Stories of persons who have recovered from this disease, and being shunned by their own relatives and communities, are a source of considerable worry to me, because they undermine our efforts to fight it”.
“There is nothing shameful about testing positive. We do not have to lose our sense of community because of this pandemic,” he said in his eleventh televised national address on the COVID 19
As at the midnight of June 13, the total number of positives, cumulatively, stood at 11,964, out of 254,331 tests conducted.
There are a total of 4,258 patients who have fully recovered, have been discharged, and are now free of the virus. The number of active cases, that is, people still living with the virus are 7,652.
Ghana’s positivity rate that is the ratio of positive cases to total tests conducted, stands at 4.7%. In the hospitals and isolation centres, there are currently 13 persons severely ill, six persons critically ill, with three persons on ventilators.
President Akufo-Addo urged the public to pay attention to their health, when they begin to experience symptoms such as fever, persistent cough, bodily pains, loss of taste and smell, and difficulty in breathing, and seek immediate medical attention at the nearest health facility.
“Government, through the Ghana Health Service, continues to monitor, on a daily basis, the spread of the virus, and has benchmarks of health outcomes, which define the mitigation measures that must be pursued to curb the spread of the disease, and enable us to reassess the easing of restrictions”.
He entreated residents of the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions, where the great majority of cases have been recorded, and in the Western and Central regions, where there is an increase in infection cases, to continue to adhere strictly to the social distancing and enhanced hygiene protocols announced.
“With the doctors and scientists telling us that the virus is transmitted from human contact, through talking, singing, coughing and sneezing, which results in sending droplets of the virus from one person to another, residents of these four regions, and, indeed, all Ghanaians, must remember that the wearing of masks is now mandatory. Leaving our homes without a face mask or face covering on is an offence. The Police have been instructed to enforce this directive, which is the subject of an Executive Instrument”.
“Let me repeat: our survival is in our own hands. If we are lax and inattentive, we will continue to have serious challenges with the virus. If we are mindful and self-disciplined, we have it in us to defeat this pandemic, and help return our lives to normalcy. I appeal to each and every one of you for your help in this regard”.
“That is the surest way to realising our collective vision of building a new Ghanaian civilisation where the rule of law is not a slogan, but a directive principle of state development; where we deliver social and economic transformation that has a meaningful impact on the lives of all our people; where a strong and vibrant economy creates jobs for the masses of our young people, and, in the process, creates a society of opportunities and aspirations for all; where we are no longer pawns nor victims of the world order; and where the vision of our founding fathers of a free, progressive and prosperous Ghana is attained. Let us, together, rise to the occasion, and fulfill our common destiny. We can do it,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo paid tribute to the Chief Executive of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, K.K Sam, who passed away on Friday, as a result of a COVID-related death.
He also entreated the public to pray for the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman- Manu, MP for Dormaa Central, who has also contracted the disease in the line of duty.
BY YAW KYEI
