Is COVID-19 hovering around or not? Dead silence can bite us

As usual, partisan politics have continued to dominate our media spaces to the extent that many other critical issues have lost any shine as they fail to gain attention from the various authorities.  

Once there is no light shining on them, they remain in the dark, as long as public knowledge is concerned.

Some critical “need-to-know” issues important for our health and well-being have been boxed in a corner and the expected media discussions or briefings from the appropriate quarters are not forthcoming. I am referring to the issue of COVID-19, which, incidentally, has raised its ugly head in some areas.

Suspected COVID-19 cases

It bothers some of us that just under a fortnight ago, the Minister of Health, on July 1, was reported in the media confirming that there were 316 suspected and 107 confirmed COVID-19 cases in our midst in the country.  

He even clarified further that they “were cases driven by the Omicron variant and were recorded on the University of Ghana, Legon, campus”.

This is a campus that houses thousands of students, hundreds of lecturers and non-teaching staff and not to mention visitors and those who do small businesses on a daily basis.

Before then, there were separate media reports that 92 persons in the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region had tested positive, with six of them, between the ages of five and 12, testing positive in the municipality.

Furthermore, the reports confirmed that five persons had been treated and discharged, while a sixth was still on admission at the hospital, receiving treatment.

As much as one would not want to create fear and panic and scare the public to death with the news of a resurgence of the deadly virus, COVID-19, it is all so important that somebody is speaking and giving the public some status update.  

While one reminisces on the very disturbing experiences of the virus that shook us not too long ago, one is keen to know where we are with the reports, which came through nearly a couple of weeks ago.

Valuable lessons

Thankfully, the virus left the world many valuable lessons on how to fight it and stay well, even though those lessons, including the vaccines, came too late for some of our cherished departed ones whom we lost.

A virus that was no respecter of persons or world orders, it tore apart economies and defied social status. It brought low world governments, institutions and businesses while causing families and friends nightmares and heartbreaks.

It claimed the lives of the old, youths and children, even babies.  

We lost, in a twinkle, doctors, nurses and allied health personnel who were working around the clock to save victims.

Families lost fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children, siblings and friends.

The world will find it difficult to sweep away the aching wounds COVID-19 left us with.

Due to its level of devastation and resulting pain, almost everyone, countries, businesses, individuals and households came to grips with, and have continued to this day, the regular rudiments and the day-to-day preventive measures to ward away any future outbreak.  

Measures such as working from home, social distancing, healthy eating, regular handwashing with soap under running water, wearing of face masks where necessary and taking supplements such as vitamins C and D to boost immunity have all armed us well.

Till today, working from home, for example, has become the work culture of some businesses.

That notwithstanding, and without creating too much hoax to scare people about the suspected presence of COVID-19 as is being reported, leaving people in the dark, too, on the other hand, could be dangerous and not desirable.

That is why one believes that once there are reported confirmed cases with a confirmation coming from no other than the Health Minister himself, what would have been desirable is some information or update to allay fears, with measures to take if necessary.

The Ghana Health Service would do well to give the public some update, at least on the already known cases at the University of Ghana campus and the Hohoe Municipality.  

The fact is, keeping public information under lock only helps to fuel rumours and spread fear and panic.  

Someone should kindly provide us with some information, especially where it concerns COVID-19 in town, so one could protect oneself and one’s family.  

The deadly silence could come back to hurt us.

Writer’s E-mail: vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com