The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Ghana is virtually bringing everything to a halt.

A policy think tank, Strategic Thinkers Network (STRANEK) has called for the suspension of the Ghana card registration exercise considering the confirmation of the coronavirus cases in Ghana.

A statement issued by the policy think tank wondered why the National Identification Authority (NIA) has failed to issue any statement on the matter.

The Director of Public Health at Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie has confirmed that about 151 persons have so far been exposed to patients with confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in Ghana.

He gave the update on the status If the country today, Sunday, March 15, 2020.

Dr. Sarkodie explained that four new cases were confirmed by the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research and the Noguchi Research Institutes at various points between Friday and Saturday.

The new cases involving a 56-year-old who returned from the UK, a student who returned from the United States of America, a 42-year-old Ghanaian male who returned from Switzerland and the UK, a 41-year-old who returned from Turkey and Germany, though are currently in isolation and stable, have since their return to Ghana contacted various persons.

The breakdown indicated that 2 contacts have been established in the first case, 107 in the second, 12 in the third and some 30 others in the last and fourth new confirmed Coronavirus case.

In view of this, STRANEK believes that NIA must suspend the registration exercise.

Read below the full statement

For immediate release:
15.03.2020

Suspend Ghana Card registration forthwith - STRANEK-Africa

Amidst the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), STRANEK-Africa finds it mindboggling that the Ghana Card Registration exercise has not been put on hold whiles it is a trite fact that gathering of large numbers of people is one way to spread the pandemic virus.

Government of Ghana has ordered that all public activities should be suspended including foreign travels of public officials. The mode of operations from all sectors of the economy which involves large numbers have been deferred to avoid the spread of the deadly and contagious virus.

Most institutions are also putting measures in place to keep in check the outbreak. Measures such as thorough washing of hands, the use of sanitizers, other personal hygienic habits are being taken with the conscientization from World Health Organization to control the outbreak.

Why has the National Identification Authority (NIA) not issued any communique to suspend the registration exercise? STRANEK-Africa opines that the Ghana Card Registration exercise should not be an exception in terms of suspending its activities. There are long queues and congestion at the registration centres which can make control of the spread of the virus very difficult if there is a contact with an infected person.

As H.E. Akufo-Addo postulated, we must all join in preventing the spread of the virus hence the NIA must suspend the registration exercise till further notice.

Once there is life, there is hope and the NIA should not toy around with the lives of the good people of this country in the name of doing everything possible to achieve its target for the year.

We wish to remind NIA to sanitize it’s equipment and other accoutrements after the suspension of the registration exercise as a drastic measure in stopping the outspread of the coronavirus.

With all hands on deck, we are confident that Ghana, Africa and the world shall overcome this pandemic just as it has done over the years passed.

We should all get involved in building our motherland.

Signed.
Nii Tettey Tetteh
Executive Director