GHS should be swift in communicating COVID updates - Lawmaker

Member of Parliament for Dafiama/Bussie/Issah and a member of the Health Committee of Parliament Dr. Sebastian Sandare, has asked the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to be swift in communicating updates on the coronavirus pandemic to the public.

He said that the GHS must not allow politicians to throw information that is sometimes skewed before they come out to explain.

Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, May 1, he said the seeming miscommunication on the coronavirus situation in Ghana is making it difficult for some to believe that the virus is still around.

“Some people still do not believe in this pandemic and therefore they think it is their pleasure or they are free to do anything. That freedom stops when you pose a risk to the country

“Don’t wait for the government or authorities to restrict you or to direct you. We are all sitting here wearing our nose masks, it is to protect ourselves and ensure that we don’t carry any virus from here to our various homes.”

He added “The challenge I have with the management of COVID 19 has to do with the fact that it is as if at a point the country is silent, authorities are not talking, we don’t know what is happening then something happens, and then we are back to ensure that we follow the laid down protocol that have been put in place.

“You can study it, during Christmas, during elections it was as if COVID had gone, then in January we realize that we are having an upsurge and then gradually it is down, no communication, we do not hear much until upsurge at the Kotoka International airport.

“That cannot be good for the management of this in any country and I think that we have to learn from other countries how they manage it. There is a communication team at Ghana Health Service that should continue explaining things to people.

“I think that communications should be swift because they have more tools to pick signals. They shouldn’t wait for people to come out and they now come to explain. That is not good in the management of any epidemic or pandemic.”