I have made a personal observation, albeit unscientific: I do go to our markets, particularly the Mallam and Mallam Atta, for foodstuffs.
I have regular vendors I always purchase from, and I’ve never heard or seen any of them contracting Covid-19, irrespective of the fact that they don’t strictly adhere to covid-19 safety protocols.
Again, when I drive around in town, I see these scrap collectors who walk in the sun for hundreds of kilometers pushing their trucks, always looking fit, notwithstanding the fact that they rarely adhere to covid-19 safety protocols.
However, we have had professors, bankers, top business moguls, prominent public officials and even medical professionals who strictly a observe all these covid-19 safety protocols, actually sucummed to Covid-19.
Now, it has been established, scientifically, that, the virus survives and thrives much better in cold environment.
And with the rich and famous constantly confined in air-conditioned spaces from fuel-guzzling SUVs, cozy offices, impecable boardrooms and palatial mansions, they’re most vulnerable.
While on the other hand, these folks in the scotching sun, 24/7, are less likely to succumb to the virus. This indeed accounts for the reasoning amongst ordinary Ghanaians that “Covid-19 is the disease of rich people”.
For example, if a Covid-19 virus lands on the face of a truck-pusher who is profusely oozing highly concentrated salty sweat from his straineous work in the sun, the protein spikes on the body of the virus will either be dissolved, or, will be incapable of binding to the skin and make its way into the anatomical orifices and attack the respiratory track.
But when this same virus lands on the skin of an affluent individual who spends all his time within air-conditioned environment, it will easily bind to the dry, fresh and deodorised skin surface with the protein spikes, and comfortably make it way into the respiratory track through the anatomical orifices.
Cumulatively, a typical yoghurt seller, sachet water seller, dogchain seller, and kayaye in any of our markets walks an average of not less than 10km, plying his/her trade from dawn to dusk. Now, this activity burns the body fat, increase muscle tone, eliminate blood cholesterol, sharpens the cardiovascular system and enhance general wellbeing.
On the contrary, the average affluent individual lives in a home fully air-conditioned, drives in air-conditioned vehicle to the office, sits in air-conditioned office, and drives back home without a centimeter of a walk throughout the day.
This increases the body mass index, renders the other body systems overloaded and probe to lifestyle diseases which noted for being catalytic for fatality when covid-19 strikes.
It is therefore imperative, for the rich and famous in our society, to, as a matter of urgency, consider coming out of their air-conditioned bubbles and getting exposed to some amount of sunlight, during the day, in order to stem the tide of painful losses of highly skilled human resource.
Unquestionably, Covid-19 is reeking havoc in homes, families, neighborhoods, communities and the nation; so let’s please apply every single tool in the toolbox to ward off this deadly disease. WE SHALL PREVAIL.
Justice Abeeku Newton-Offei
email: justnoff@yahoo.com