Ghana has done well in containing the coronavirus - Dr Sarkodie

Dr Badu Sarkodie, the Director of Public Health, Ghana Health Service, on Tuesday said Ghana had done well with the management and containment of the spread of COVID-19 since the first case was recorded on March 12.

He said preparations started earnestly at the beginning of the year after an alert was received on the devastating impact of the virus in China and subsequently in Italy and Spain.

Speaking at the COVID-19 media briefing in Accra, Dr Sarkodie stated that after recording the first case the country’s strategy moved from preparatory to respond mode.

The nation triggered the operationalisation of a number of responds actions including border closure, restriction on social gathering, closure of all universities and public and private senior high and basic schools, observing social and physical distancing and hand hygiene.

Described as none pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), he said those were key to controlling the virus from spreading as the world awaited the discovery of a vaccine to cure it.

He noted that the NPIs had impacted positively on the country’s morbidity and death burden as compared to other countries.

Comparing the nation’s death toll to other countries, Dr Sarkodie said the death toll, pegged at five in one thousand, “seemed acceptable.”

He said the country proactively chased the virus through the contact tracing to identify persons who had contracted and gave them medical care.

He stressed the need for the country to institutionalise the interventions for long-term use to reduce its impact on social and economic development.