In recent times, it appears that strict adherence to all laid down measures and protocols against the deadly corona virus-covid-19 have been surprisingly relaxed drastically among many Ghanaians.
As a result, the wearing of nose masks, washing of hands under running water, as well as other crucial ones such as social distancing, all appear to have been thrown to the dogs.
Now, church services are held with little or no rule for social distancing at all congregations, while services are seen filled to capacity on Sunday.
Wedding ceremonies are held almost every weekend, with full attendance, whereas funerals are equally held across the country with very little or absolutely no regard for the Covid-19 protocols.
The instruction for drivers not to fill their vehicles to capacity is no longer working anymore, because enforcement has been thrown to out of the window, giving everyone the unlimited room to operate.
At many market centres across the country, the phrase “social distancing”, which became the order of the day not quite long ago, now seems to have completely disappeared.
The wearing of nose masks in crowded environments or outside our homes to give us some level of protection has tremendously reduced among the Ghanaian populace.
Perhaps, these have come about because of perceptions that the virus is no longer seen as a major threat to human lives, for which reason all efforts must be made to control its spread.
It is, therefore, clear from all fronts that our guards, which served as measures against the fast spread of the virus, have been let down, meanwhile, WHO has not declared that the virus has been eradicated.
We, at The Chronicle, find this development very strange and shocking, because in our view, the virus has not died down completely, for which reason all safety protocols must be thrown away and live our lives as though we are no longer in danger.
According to statistics available at the Ghana Health Service website, Ghana still has a staggering figure of 1,314 active cases of the deadly virus.
The same data produced a figure of 24 as those whose cases are severe, whereas the condition of seven persons, according to the data, are said to be critical, a situation that clearly attests that all is still not well with us.
We, therefore, deem it expedient to, at this point, echo the earlier firm position that we are still not in normal times, for which reason we must all play our individual roles effectively to avoid an upsurge of the virus.
It has also come to our attention that the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) has become an entry point of the virus into the country in recent times, where many travellers are believed to have imported the virus when our cases were going down.
This assertion is very worrying and heart breaking, because we do know that as part of the government’s efforts at controlling the further spread of the virus, some critical measures were instituted at the KIA.
Travellers coming into the country, we were told, had to undergo some compulsory checks and screenings at the KIA to ensure that new cases were not allowed into the country.
Our fear is that if upon all the necessary arrangements at the KIA, which everyone coming into the country is mandated to adhere to strictly, we still have cases being imported into the country without being detected at the port, then we are definitely not safe as a people.
We, therefore, want to call on the appropriate authorities to, as a matter of urgency, see the aforesaid assertion as a threat to our very existence as a country, and act swiftly by paying urgent attention to it.
We further call for thorough investigations into the matter, in order to ascertain its veracity, so that if it turns out to be true, punitive actions could be taken against whosoever might have reneged on their duties, for which reason the entire country must suffer.
Such actions, we believe, would serve as a deterrent to whosoever is entrusted with the authority to ensure that the right things are done.
We have fought the virus the hard way during its peak, and, therefore, cannot let our guards down at this point when vaccines are being developed to control it spread and associated deaths.
We must, therefore, understand that we are still not in normal times, and stick to the safety protocols at all times to avoid being caught unawares.
The post Editorial: Covid-19 has not died down yet! appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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