I was quite angry when I saw an image on a friend’s WhatsApp status on Wednesday, March 11, with the information that Ghana had confirmed its first case of the deadly coronavirus.
According to the report which was supposed to be from the BBC, the patient was a citizen and a student of the University of Ghana who flew into the country from Italy.
Quite shocked that I hadn’t heard the news from any credible media house, including where I work, especially from the department in which I work, I tried to verify the news on the BBC website, but was left hanging.
Still to be sure, I asked a few of my colleagues, who assured me about the information being fake.
Well, it was just one of those things, I thought. I chose to ignore.
A few minutes later, I received a text message from one of my sisters. She asked whether the news was true. I want to assume that given that she knew I worked in a media house and knowing she hadn’t heard anything from any of the Ghanaian media houses, she only wanted to have the final confirmation from me, and would take my answer as the truth, whether it was actually true or not.
Going back onto my social media timelines, I was appalled at how fast the news was being spread.
I was quite annoyed at the fact that the wrong information was being shared but what got me fuming was that my friends, including people who were training to be journalists, were sharing it and even worse, making a joke out of it.
At that point, I really did not know if I was supposed to be shocked at all, or just remain angry.
Taking to social media, I decided to vent my anger albeit in a way, and announced that the information was false.
At the back of my mind, all I could think of was “are we going to joke with everything? Even something as dangerous as the coronavirus?”
What at all is the coronavirus about?
The novel coronavirus (nCoV), also known as COVID-19, was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
The virus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before, hence the prefix ‘novel.’
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
The virus is spread mainly between people who are in close contact with one another, i.e within about 6 feet, and via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into one’s lungs.
How far has it gone?
The novel coronavirus outbreak, which was previously described as a global health emergency, was recently labelled as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
According to worldometer.com, the virus had claimed a total of 6,518 lives and had infected 169,610 people across almost 140 countries, as of March 16, 2020, 04:00 GMT.
However, 77,776 have recovered from the disease.
The virus has also found a foothold on every continent except for Antarctica.
In Africa alone, over 289 cases had been recorded as at Sunday, March 15, 2020, 21:00 GMT.
Majority of the cases are in Egypt where 110 persons have been found to be with the virus and two persons dying as a result. 27 have however recovered.
Some of the remaining African countries who have confirmed the virus are Algeria, South Africa, Senegal, Morocco, Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon, and Tunisia.
In neighbouring Togo and Ivory Coast, one and three cases have been reported in both countries respectively, whereas, in Burkina Faso, three cases each have been confirmed. Two cases were confirmed in Nigeria but both have recovered, leaving them with no cases as at now.
Coming down to my motherland Ghana, the first two cases of coronavirus were confirmed on Thursday, March 12, 2020.
Just three days after, [Sunday, March 15] four more cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed in the country, bringing it to six, the total number of cases reported in beloved Ghana.
Ignorance covered in humour
My Ghanaian people have a way of always making serious situations lighter than they are supposed to be. As Nana Nyarko Boateng described in her article, ‘we are a laughing nation’.
In the article titled, ‘Measuring the beloved Ghanaian sense of humour against actual sense’, she said: “Ghanaians like to laugh and why shouldn’t we? Yet, our eagerness to laugh at everything is erasing the lines of duty and tastefulness in our society. Not everything should be made a joke of. As humans, it is basic to understand this. Another person’s pain or shame should not be prolonged just for the fun of it. No, you are not ‘just joking,’ you are being lesser than you are meant to be.”
Even before Ghana confirmed the virus, people had already begun making memes, sending out jokes, passing unnecessary comments, etc.
In as much as we all need a good laugh in stressful times, I sometimes wonder if it is not becoming too much. Or if it is just ignorance being packaged as humour.
But are we actually prepared as individuals?
The Ghana government is doing their possible best to fight the disease and prevent it from spreading.
Per Ghana’s preparedness plan for an outbreak of the novel virus, the state is operating along the World Health Organisation protocols.
The government has even provided a cedi equivalent of US$100 million to enhance Ghana’s Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.
But I wonder whether Ghanaians are in any way helping to fight it? Or whether we are preparing ourselves for whatever that may come.
Or we’d just sit and joke about it and wait on the government to perform a miracle.
Or wait for people to start dying before we realize how serious this is.
Or well, we’d go to prayer camps and wait for pastors to prophesy unto our lives and ‘anoint’ our heads so we are not touched by the disease.
Have we thought about the effects this is going to have on us if it is not brought under control?
That even if people don’t start dying from coronavirus, people will start ‘dying’ from the lack of food in the country. Because if places, where people import foodstuff from, have been affected by the virus, how will the food be brought into the country? And even if that will be possible, who will be willing to go to a typical Ghanaian market to go and buy stuff, that is if the seller will even risk his or her life to go and sit in the market in the first place.
Have we thought of the fact that people will start dying from other diseases because drugs that are supposed to be administered to them to heal will be in short supply?
Have we thought of the fact that things will start getting very expensive? Uber, Bolt, and the likes will be of high demand because ‘trotros’ will be a scary place to be?
Already, some banks have started shutting down their ATM services. Schools have been shut down. Church services have been banned. Very soon, this will escalate to businesses. Everything will be locked down completely.
As expected, people have already begun preaching about the end times. “Is it really here?”
When I started writing this article, the virus had not been confirmed in Ghana. I slept for a while, woke up, and the news was all over. Our beloved country was no more ‘safe’.
What do we do? Do we keep laughing about it or prepare for it?
I think now that the virus has found its way into the country, we should put on a more serious outlook. It is about time we stopped joking about everything, including this deadly virus. It is about time we remained calm but prepared for it in every way as best as we can.
As President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said, “These are not ordinary times.”
You decide.
Wash your hands regularly.
Avoid handshakes.
Always remain hydrated.
Pray.
Do not panic! Prepare!
The writer, Ellen Dapaah, works with Citi FM/Citi TV and citinewsroom.com