The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to provide Ghanaians with free sanitizers or subsidize the price of such products to make them affordable for everyone.
The Trades Union made this call in an open letter to the President.
It also asked the government to give financial support to the Pharmaceutical Industry and other essential service providers to help them boost production.
“The Pharmaceutical industry and others that produce basic household supplies must be given financials and fiscals incentives to increase production. We strongly suggest that the government should provide sanitizers to all residents in Ghana free of charge or they should be subsidized to make them affordance to everyone, regardless of their income levels,” TUC pleaded in the letter.
In the same letter to the President, it urged the government to consider a possible lockdown of the country if necessary.
“Mr. President, the risk of spread of the virus in Ghana remains high. We need more aggressive measures to protect the people from this deadly virus, including a lockdown if that is what is needed to protect the people,” TUC noted in a letter to President Nana Akufo-Addo signed by its General Secretary, Dr. Yaw Baah.
Coronavirus: Persons living with disability bemoan inflated prices of sanitizers
The National Council of Persons with Disabilities had earlier bemoaned the inflation of the prices of hand sanitizers.
According to them, the poor and disabled are worse affected by the situation.
“Some of our friends who are even earning their livelihood under trees and car packs, how are they going to earn a living to the extent that they will even get extra income to buy sanitizers? It seems the government will have to work with organizations of persons living with disability to reach out to our members or persons with disability across the country and also appeal to corporate Ghana.”
Coronavirus cases in Ghana
Cases of the novel coronavirus in Ghana have hit 27 while the death toll has hit 2.
The Ghana Health Service confirmed the new cases on its website yesterday, March 23, 2020.
A total of 521 suspected patients, according to the Ghana Health Service, were tested for COVID-19 by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR).
“Out of the suspected, twenty-seven (27) cases including two (2) deaths have been confirmed. All the twenty-five (25) confirmed cases are receiving treatment in isolation,” the statement added.
The Ghana Health Service stated that among the confirmed cases, “20 are of Ghanaian nationality, majority of whom returned home from affected countries. Seven (7) are of other nationals namely: Norway, Lebanon, China, France, UK.”
In respect of contact tracing, a total of 598 contacts have been identified and are being tracked, according to the Service.
Click here for the full letter the TUC