Government is making arrangments to secure an insurance cover for all front line workers who will be attending to coronavirus related cases in the occurrence of an outbreak in the country.
Although the virus has claimed over 400 lives with over 20,000 reported cases from China and 26 other countries, there is no confirmed case in Ghana yet.
Addressing the media, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu said the planned move is to aid in tackling the spread of the coronavirus in case of an outbreak.
“We are in this together and therefore we call on the private sector to give their full support to national efforts in this period,” he said.
Government has also set aside GHS2.5 million to respond in the event of an outbreak.
The money is meant as start-up funds towards the implementation of the initial response for Ghana’s national preparedness plan.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has initiated plans to procure 10,000 pieces of personal protection equipment for the use of all our frontline workers.
Global emergency
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a global health emergency over the virus.
The first coronavirus case was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019.
In China alone, there are now more than 20,000 cases of the virus, with the death toll at over 400.
Outside China, there are more than 150 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with one death in the Philippines.
Various countries have imposed travel restrictions to a varying degree like Singapore, US and Australia which are denying entry to all foreign visitors who have recently been to China.
Some countries are denying entry to foreigners travelling from mainland China whilst others are denying entry to foreigners who have visited Hubei province over the coronavirus fears.
The WHO declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern when there is “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease.”
It had previously declared five global public health emergencies: the Swine flu in 2009, Polio in 2014, Zika in 2016 and Ebola, 2014 and 2019.
