Member of Parliament (MP) for the Adentan Constituency and the Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa has encouraged government officials who have tested positive for COVID-19 to disclose their identities.
According to him, such an action will let Ghanaians know that the COVID-19 pandemic is no respecter of persons or status and this will increase the level of respect for COVID-19 safety protocols by Ghanaians.
He made this recommendation in an interview on Happy 98.9 FM’s Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun. “If it is disclosed that Yaw Buaben Asamoa got the virus and recovered, then people will start acting consciously and protect themselves. It will inform Ghanaians that no one is safe and the virus is real.”
The politician, however, noted that the decision of these politicians to disclose their identity is theirs and theirs alone and should not be forced on anyone. “The decision should be left for the person who has the virus to give the public that information,” he stated.
He reiterated, “It is not the work of the Ghana Health Service to announce the status of people. You as the leader should tell people that the virus is no respecter of persons. Doing so will convince people that the virus is real and they will act to protect themselves well.”
A section of Ghanaians has become concerned for the President after it emerged that some appointees who may have had contact with him have been admitted at the hospital after testing Covid-19 positive.
After this revelation was made, many called on the Ministry of Health to make public the names of these governmental officials.
However, health authorities say it is unethical to make public names of government appointees who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the country.
Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, has also encouraged such persons who have been diagnosed with the disease to declare their status voluntarily.
“As I mentioned, I cannot really ethically, tell you all these numbers and mention names and their status. It cannot be done. I’m sure there are media men who have also been exposed and we don’t have their numbers and names [in the public domain] but those who came out and did that voluntarily, that’s what we encourage. We are not going to be able to mention anybody’s name and there is no need,” the Director-General said.
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