We have shown humanity in the face of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has left in its wake 144,846 deaths around the globe as of yesterday.

In the path of COVID-19 has been debilitating illnesses and massive deaths, the type that only happens once in a lifetime.

There has been panic, bewilderment, sorrow and stark harrowing experiences from the north to the south, east to the west.

Amid all the global upheavals, however, have been genuine kindness and ubuntu. The ubuntu philosophy was popularised by the Anglican Bishop, Desmond Tutu, the Chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1996.

Ubuntu means ‘humanity’. It is often translated as "I am because we are," or "humanity towards others." In a philosophical sense, it signifies "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity."

During the harrowing TRC hearings on human rights abuses of blacks under the apartheid regime in that country, Desmond Tutu popularised the term, using it to signify a model of forgiveness, in which human dignity and identity are drawn from the image of God.

Thus, the spirit of humanity and the recognition that we all lose everything, except when we have each other, has been emphasised the world over.

In Ghana, at the very beginning of the COVID-19 spread, individuals and institutions came out to support with handwashing stands and points along some major roads in the city.

The EPP Bookshop, Legon; the Tesbury Mart and other organisations at the Legon Mall, came out to set such points on their premises for commuters to drive through and wash their hands at no cost.

The telecomunications company, MTN, also informed customers that they would not be charged for the first GHC¢100 sent on its mobile platform.

The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) removed all charges on all its electronic payment services used by its partner financial service providers.

Other banks followed suit, offering various packages, including loan repayment rechedules to lighten the burden on customers in these times.

Then, President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during his address to the nation on Friday, March 27, 2020, pledged his three months’ salary as seed money for the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, whose Board of Trustees was inaugurated on Monday, March 30, 2020.

His ministers and appointees followed suit, committing 50 per cent of their salaries to the fund.

Religious organisations have not been left out, with some committing their facilities to the cause as isolation centres or residences for the stranded to have some respite during the stay-at-home period.

For heightened measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country, we cannot forget Jack Ma, the Founder of Alibaba and his foundation, who in collaboration with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, have distributed 1.5 million laboratory diagnostic test kits and more than 100 tonnes of equipment to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the Ethiopian government to boost efforts at fighting the viral spread on the continent. Similar thanks go to the Chinese government for its support.

Indeed, many of us have all shown our humanity in the face of distressing happenings and scenes on our screens all over the world.

Many more are yet to do so and we at the Daily Graphic will like to encourage all to show support to the fight against COVID-19.

The Daily Graphic believes that as this contagion runs its course, we will need more of our ‘humanness’, the kindness and goodwill to brave the storm.

We will need each other, even if it is from a distance, to show by our deeds and actions that we care, that we are all in this together and that we will all pull through.

Yes, ubuntu will lead us on this uncharted course.