We are not out of woods yet — Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama says the lifting of the partial lockdown does not mean the country is out of the woods of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

He has, therefore, urged Ghanaians to continue to be responsible.

“I want to strongly encourage all my fellow citizens, particularly the aged and those with underlying medical conditions, to continue to remain at home,” he advised.

In a facebook live discussion, dubbed “a digital conversation with John Mahama” last Thursday, he appealed to Ghanaians to remain at home if they had nothing essential or urgent to do outside.

“Avoid shaking hands or joining large gatherings. Let us regularly wash our hands with soap under running water, or resort to the use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers where possible.

“Continue practising social distancing or stay at least one metre away from anybody you are with or talking to when you step out of the house. And please wear a mask to protect yourself and others from infection,” he stated.

Mobile virus

Mr Mahama reminded Ghanaians that now that the lockdown had been lifted and the virus was mobile again, “we must heed to the call to always wear face masks or face coverings in all public places”.

“We must remember there are reports of reinfections occurring in some cases elsewhere. Also, prolonged immunity to the virus has not yet been proven at this stage,” he said.

“Staying safe no matter what is what we must all strive to do, because as you may have also heard, in the model the government is working with, the projection is that up to three million Ghanaians may be infected by the virus and a significant number will require hospitalisation or may even die from the virus,” he said.

He said the number of infections were not only rising steeply but there was also clearly a horizontal community spread of the virus.

The majority of regions, he said, had reported cases, and the bulk of the positive cases were of people who had no history of foreign travel.

Accountability

The former President also called on Ghanaians to demand accountability and transparency from the government in the management of the COVID-19 funds.

“And I am passionately appealing to the government to ensure a timely release of funds to the institutions, health and non-health, so they can discharge their duties appropriately and according to plan,” he said.

He urged Ghanaians to put their shoulders to the wheel with patriotic zeal devoid of partisanship and parochial interest to fight COVID-19 aggressively and decisively.

“It is not too late for us to unite, truly unite, be transparent and accountable to the people,” he stated.