The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, says the current restriction on movements imposed by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has been a huge success in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.
According to him, the partial lockdown imposed almost three weeks ago has helped in halting the further spread of the disease and facilitated in picking out infected people from among the populace.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, who made this known at a media briefing in Accra yesterday, said results from the contact tracing had so far shown that 641 persons, who tested positive for COVID-19 in the country were drawn from a total of 50,719 persons that had been tested for the disease.
The results meant that 1.3 per cent of those tested for the virus were positive, while the remaining 98.7 per cent tested negative, he said.
In that regard, the minister urged members of the public to be optimistic about the government's management of the pandemic, but must remain responsible in playing their part in containing the spread of the virus.
"Our target was to test 10,000 people but we have tested 50,719 and that is almost five times our target for ourselves. If you look at this, it gives you a sense that the entire lockdown that has been done for the major objective of finding out the persons with the virus in the system and dealing with it is very positive because just about 1.3 per cent of the at risk population tested positive," Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.
Breakdown
Giving details about the country's COVID-19 status, the information minister said 13,838 people were tested under the normal surveillance category, with 268 of them, representing 1.9 per cent, testing positive.
For the mandatory quarantine that was imposed by the government, he said 2,022 tests were conducted out of which 115 persons tested positive.
In addition, he said, 34,859 tests were conducted under the enhanced contact tracing and testing programme out of which 258 persons, representing 0.7 per cent, tested positive.
No stigmatisation
Mr Oppong Nkrumah called on members of the public to stop stigmatising COVID-19 patients and their families since such a tendency would make it difficult for the country to fight the pandemic.
“COVID-19 is not a death sentence because people have been infected and have recovered. Let us stop stigmatising because if we continue to do this, people who have the condition will go underground; communities will continue to reject facilities that are offered as centres for managing the disease; and we will all suffer,” he said.
He called on stakeholders to step up education at the community level to let people change their mindset about COVID-19.
Survivor’s account
It was a nerve-wracking moment when one of the persons who was recently declared cured of the disease mounted the podium to narrate his ordeal.
Mr Frederick Drah, the father of four, said he was eclipsed by fear and despair when on Wednesday, March 18, he got to know that he had been infected by the virus.
“I was in bed at about 12:15 a.m. and started feeling feverish and dryness in my throat. I called my wife and she gave me some two tablets of paracetamol. Within the shortest time, I was feeling warm and I was able to sleep again. The next day I decided to go to hospital. I visited Tema Polyclinic and they did about four tests for which I was negative,” he recounted.
He narrated how a health official dressed in personal protection equipment (PPE), later came and took his mouth swab, after which he was asked to go home.
“The following day, Thursday, I received a strange call… the gentleman told me that they took my sample and they found out that I am COVID-19 positive. In fact, it wasn’t easy for me. I tried to control myself," he said.
Mr Drah said the doctor told him to isolate from the rest of the family, while arrangements were made for him to be taken to an isolation centre for treatment.
“That is the place where I saw myself dying, simply because of the information out there. I also thought that when you get the disease, within three days you will be gone,” he said.
Advice
Mr Drah advised members of the public to take the disease seriously and strictly adhere to the measures put in place by the government and health authorities to contain the disease.
“I want you to know that COVID-19 is real. I have been there before and I am telling you not to do things that will put you at risk of infection,” he stressed.
Although Mr Drah survived COVID-19, he said it was sad that members of the public and people in his community had developed a cold attitude towards him and his family.
He passionately appealed to people not to see COVID-19 patients as candidates of death but should rather be supported to recover; and when they recover, they should be accepted by members of the community. topstories, Coronavirus
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