GMA pledges to fight coronavirus despite lockdown U-turn

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has pledged its support to the government in the ongoing national fight against the novel coronavirus, even though the lockdown they advocated has been lifted by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The GMA made the pledge when they met with President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House at his invitation to pick up their thoughts and concerns over the government’s approach to fighting the COVID -19 pandemic.

In a brief remark, President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Frank Ankobea, observed that the association recognizes the difficult situation the country finds itself in but remains loyal and fully committed to the national agenda to trace, test and treat COVID -19 patients as well as to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

“We are so happy that you invited us this morning to discuss the pertinent issues. All we need to do is to pledge our support to the government that we are going to continue with you, we are going to fight until this virus is eliminated from Ghana,” the GMA President, Dr. Frank Ankobea said.

For his part, President Akufo-Addo, in his remarks, noted that his administration was compelled to lift restrictions on movement in Greater Accra, Kasoa and Greater Kumasi because consistently, test results over the last three weeks have remained constant in terms of infection rate, death rate, persons who are moderately ill, amongst others.

“It is that consistency, that robustness of the data that we have in Ghana, that is inspiring our decisions,” Mr Akufo-Addo said.

“As President of this country, I cannot also ignore the impact that this lockdown is having on several constituencies of our country, specifically those who are a very important part of the Ghanaian equation, the people who live, if you like, ‘hand-to-mouth,’ informal workers who need to have a day out in the market one form or the other for their families, who are having a lot of difficulty,” he added.