Kwaku Agyemang-Manu
The Minister-designate for Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, says the government has sent out guidelines and arrangements for classrooms to be decongested.
According to him, teachers have also been trained such that classes with large numbers could be divided into two, for them to run some semblance of a shift system.
Contributing to a statement on coronavirus (COVID-19) by the NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Lydia Seyram Alhassan, the Health Minister-designate stated that the move was to ensure that “teachers do not congregate these students against the protocols that we have initiated.”
Lydia Seyram Alhassan, who is also a Deputy Majority Whip, had expressed worry about the upsurge of the COVID-19 cases in the country and vaccine hoarding which she indicated, “bear the potential to spell doom for countries in the developing world, including Ghana who lack the economic muscle to compete with those in the global north for the vaccines.
“Mr. Speaker, it will interest the House to note that the EU, on January 25, 2021, threatened to impose tight controls on the export of COVID-19 vaccines made within the EU region in view of global supply challenges.”
According to her, this comes on the back of a statement from representatives of Oxford/AstraZeneca informing the EU vaccine steering board that the pharmaceutical company would not be able to meet 60% of its vaccine obligations to the EU.
“Also, Mr. Speaker, the World Health Organisation has already warned that Africa is in danger of being left behind in the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccines as countries in other regions strike bilateral deals to drive prices up.
“It is also instructive to note that so far, Guinea is the only low-income country in Africa to have received doses of the vaccines with only 25 people inoculated as of January 21, 2021, and Egypt, Morocco and Seychelles remain the only African countries to have started a nation-wide vaccination,” Ms. Alhassan pointed out.
However, the Health Minister-designate said the government had started addressing “in a little different manner”, as well as the issue of over populating students in a classroom.
“We saw COVID-19 and we triggered communication around the country. In information dissemination, we continued saying that the disease had come to live with us so we should learn to live with it,” Mr. Agyemang-Manu indicated.
He said the various transport associations have started announcing and placing restrictions at lorry stations such that people boarding their vehicles are masked, while providing sanitisers and Veronica buckets for the washing of hands by passengers.
“Yesterday (referring to Thursday) we heard from Eastern Region, Bono Region and Bono East Region and things like that. So the citizens are living up to the task to support the government’s effort and initiatives.
“Mr. Speaker, I know and this was announced at the Meet the Press by the Ghana Education Service. Close to about 23 million face masks have been molded to be supplied and the distribution is ongoing.
“In some places, we have served adequately and some places the kits are yet to get there. But we have triggered monitoring to pull up to make sure that every district has got what has been allocated to them based on the population of children.
“We should also play voluntary roles as parents and citizens to complement the effort that the government is actually making,” the Minister-designate for Health stressed.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House