Corona Virus Disease 19; Ghana's Situation
Ghana is a developing country in West Africa with a population of about 28 million. On the 8th of March, 2020 Ghana recorded its first two cases which were all imported cases from Norway and Turkey, this prompted the president to put in measures quickly ensure that the spread is contained and for contact tracing to begin. All public gatherings of more than 25 were banned, all churches were closed down, all public schools were closed down and individuals were advised to stay home whiles contact tracing went on. Later that week the cases rose to 21 with some community spreading speculated to have started, all tested individuals have been placed under quarantined and being treated.
From the early hours of this week as at the time of writing this article 2 deaths were recorded and the president came out to announce and enhanced measures to combat the virus which included closing out boarders, land, air and sea to foreigners and a mandatory quarantine for all who came in before the closure came into into effect. This led to the mandatory quarantine of 1030 people, rigorous testing lead to a sharp increase in positive cases to 68 with an additional death making a total of 3 deaths. More testing are yet to be for all the people who were quarantined thus the number is expected to rise very soon. Overall, 30 of the 68 cases have been reported in the general population with the remaining 38 cases among persons currently under mandatory quarantine. 863 of the 1030 cases have been tested so far. The foreigners who have been infected are from Norway, Lebanon, China and UK. A total of 860 contacts have been traced to have met positive tested patients.
25th March, 2020 was indicated as a national day of prayer to combat Covid19 which saw massive patronage from the citizens as we cried to God to come to our aid. Ghana has also received our fair share of medical supplies from Jack Ma of Alibaba, China. As at the early hours of today 26th March, 2020 the Ghana Medical Association and some few influential individuals are advocating for a lockdown of the country however information provided by the statistical service of Ghana indicates that this will not favor the country due the poverty rate and the lifestyle of individuals. All major Markets in the Ashanti Region would be fumigated on Friday the 27th of March, 2020. And we await further instructions from the president as he addresses the nation in the evening today, 26th March.
Ghana Statistical Service Survey on Ghanaian Living in relation to Lockdown
According to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly; 91% of homes in the country capita are without places of convenience. Over 114,521 residences in Accra are without places of convenience. 315 houses use the outlawed pan latrines and 79 houses use pit latrines. 35.7% of all households across the country use public toilet. 81% of Ghanaians lack access to improved sanitation or are entirely without toilet facilities. Meaning these individuals are going to have serious issues with nature's call in the presence of a total lockdown. More than 5 million Citizens constituting over 18% of the population rely on surface water to meet their daily needs. 32.3% rely on wells, 12.5% on public tap and 73.9% on natural sources of water. 6.8 million Ghanaians thus a total of 25% live on less than 1 Dollar a day. 2.4 million live in abject poverty thus cannot afford to spend up to 50 cents a day on food. This mean these people have no means of stocking up food whatsoever for a week or two long of a lockdown thus death is expected to take these individuals even before the virus reaches these locations.