COVID-19 fight: Our leaders have failed – Dr. Jehu Appiah

Public Health Physician and former General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Jehu Appiah, has said that the chronology of events after the pandemic hit the country proves that our leaders have rendered the COVID-19 fight unserious.

According to him, the government touted that they had taken the lead in the COVID-19 fight when in actual fact it had not envisaged the different waves the pandemic could present.

When he was interviewed on the Happy Morning Show, he told Samuel Eshun: “The arrangement we made was supposed to contain the disease and at a point the government touted that they were the best in Africa or the best in the world to contain the virus and I remember we sounded a caution that it was too early for us to jubilate. You don’t go round saying you were the best or the worst. This is because the pandemic goes through waves so we have to be careful. What we communicate to the population may make people think the pandemic is no more with us”.

The Medical Officer recalled the incident related to the late Sir John’s funeral, describing it as proof that our leaders made people think the virus is no more.

“The presidential advisor on health after the event told Ghanaians that none of the people at the ceremony had tested positive as if he had gone round to test everybody. So, when it happens that way, those who are listening to someone as high in society as him will believe the sickness is not serious”, he added.

Dr. Jehu Appiah says he believes that in fighting a pandemic, there needs to be leadership that will direct the populace on what to do. But as it stands, he has come to the conclusion that the government “has not shown us that we are serious in this fight”

President Nana Akufo-Addo in his 26th address to the nation on measures to curb the COVID-19, once announced restrictions pertaining to public gatherings in the country.

According to him, this has been necessitated as the new COVID-19 strain, the Delta Variant is quickly spreading.
Weeks ago, the Ghana Health Service confirmed an outbreak of the highly transmissible COVID-19 strain, Delta Variant.

The Delta variant, which originated from India, was initially said to have been contained at the Kotoka International Airport after it was detected among some travellers.

Happyghana