World Through COVID-19, Ghana
One of my favorite things about traveling is meeting new people and luckily, I’ve met so many remarkable people through my travels. Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll be talking to friends across the globe to see how this pandemic has affected their country and community.
This week, I got to chat with Paul Damalie who lives in Ghana, but is trapped in Uganda due to the Ghana border closing. I met Paul in 2016 while freelancing for DFS Lab in Sri Lanka at an entrepreneur boot camp. Paul was an attendee, and quickly turned into a great friend! So great, that I ended up visiting him in Ghana a few years after (highly recommend Ghana for travel BTW)!
Ghana as it stands today:
240 cases, 5 deaths, with high recovery rate (Update: that number has since increased to 378 cases and 6 deaths)
One death was Paul's friend who was 42 years old with some underlying respiratory issues. He contracted the virus in Amsterdam.
When the Ghana borders closed there was only 1 death recorded. Ghana's approach was to lock down really early since they don't have the capacity or health systems to tackle it.
The first case in Ghana was a senior officer at the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana. He contracted it in Norway, and upon his return, came in contact with many Ghanian citizens, including school children as well.
If you traveled in late February/early March, the government will call you and do contact tracing. A lot of the quarantine focus on people who have recently traveled.
Their citizens understand all of this now, but at the beginning they were mad. They were panicked at the idea that water could be shut down, etc. But over time the gov did a lot of education to make sure everyone understood the importance of staying home.
Rumors were really bad early on. So bad that Ghana citizens fled a full bus when a few Chinese people boarded. They refused to move the bus after that. Since then, the government focused a lot of there energy on COVID-19 education to their citizens.
Medical Status:
The country has done a great job preparing and rewarding the health-workers. Healthcare workers get insurance package increased, free transport, no taxes for next 3 months and allowances increased for an extra half.
Hospitals are well equipped. They haven't had a shortage yet, but if they do the air force will bring more. They've formed specialized health committees to stay on top of this.
Unlike a lot of other countries, Ghana is investing money into the local economy so local manufacturing can make more PPE's for healthcare workers. This helps stabilize economy and keeps citizens safe.
For testing in Ghana, you can request a test by dialing a short code on your phone that prompts you to fill out a survey. You then get your status and can schedule your appointment. They've done almost around 50,000 test.
Government and Economy:
The government gives regular updates to let everyone know the latest. This is the main source of news for locals.
Ghana passed a stimulus package targeted (but not limited) to low income citizens which includes:
Zero baring interest loans.
Food stamps and stipends for people who work paycheck to paycheck, elderly and disabled
No water bills for 3 months
Tax relief
One of the government's top priority is education. Second to supporting the healthcare system. priority other than supporting the healthcare system.
Huge thanks to Paul for sharing his knowledge and giving us more insight on what’s going on in Africa!