COVID-19 COMMUNITY SPREAD IN GHANA

Review existing protocols with immediate effect

 

The BPS wishes to add its voice to calls on Government by civil society organizations and other professional bodies to review existing COVID-19 restrictions on mass gatherings and assemblies with immediate effect.

Following recent developments in other parts of the world regarding variants of the coronavirus; and considering the sharp surge in COVID-19 cases in Ghana, the BPS wish to call on the Government and the Ghana Health Service to immediately commit the following to reason and act urgently:

1. Review existing COVID-19 travel protocols to suspend air travels from countries afflicted with COVID-19 variants (commonly referred to as the ‘superbug’), especially the United Kingdom, South Africa, United States of America, and Brazil, and re-evaluate same over time.
2. Review existing COVID-19 travel protocols for arriving passengers from non-superbug destinations; where travelers are allowed to choose between the under listed:
3. a) a 5-day mandatory quarantine cum testing after which travelers who test negative end their quarantine, or
4. b) a straight 10-day mandatory quarantine without testing
5. Randomly sample school-going pupils and students after 30 days of being in school to determine prevalence among that population and re-evaluate the situation based on the outcomes.
6. Elect to Rapid Antigen tests at Public Health facilities for sick members of the public or persons showing signs or symptoms of the disease and are willing to know their status. Antigen tests are not only less expensive but also return results faster and will help to reduce the burden on existing laboratories.

 

Furthermore, the Bureau of Public Safety encourages businesses and organizations to consider importing the Rapid Antigen test kits and make them available for testing workers and employees showing signs and symptoms of COVID-19; as this method will ultimately improve worker availability and efficiency, avoid business interruption by eliminating long wait times for PCR test results, and high cost of PCR tests for suspected cases, in these times when businesses are under and their bottom-lines are threatened daily.

The Bureau of Public Safety encourages the general public to continue to adhere strictly to all COVID-19 prevention and hygiene protocols as the devastating effect of the virus on health and wellbeing remains an evolving subject matter for public health experts.

 

Authorized for immediate release

29^th January, 2021