The Veterinary Council of Ghana (VCG) and Ghana Veterinary Medical Association (GVMA) says it will continue providing its services to the public after the partial lockdown imposed on some parts of the country.
“We wish to inform the general public and relevant stakeholders of the continuous delivery of Veterinary Services
which are essential for Ghana’s economy, the health of humans and animals,” a statement issued by the groups say.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, on Friday, March 27, declared a two-week partial lockdown of Accra and Kumasi effective 1 am on Monday, March 30, 2020, to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Citing the reasons for the need for their services in times like this, the groups said, “Veterinarians and Para-professionals play a pivotal role in food animal production ranging from planning, medication, vaccination to health management. Veterinary services should still be available to farmers to have their animals healthy and productive for food production to feed our nation.”
“The public must be protected from delicate diseases especially zoonotic diseases (diseases from animals to
humans), and other that could further compromise the already delicate public health situation in the country.
Veterinary professionals must continue to play this important role by ensuring inspection and approval of animal and animal products for import and export and meat inspection at various slaughter houses,” the statement added.
Concluding, they urged all their members to “observe all protocols put in place by the Public Health Authorities,
and the restriction of movement of persons in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions announced by H.E The
President of the Republic of Ghana” while delivering services to the public.
Click here to read the full statement.
Restriction of movement
The partial lockdown imposed by President Akufo-Addo involves the cities which have been identified as the epicentres of the novel coronavirus in Ghana.
He said the decision “will give us the opportunity to try to halt the spread of the virus, and scale-up effectively contact tracing of persons who have come into contact with infected persons, test them for the virus, and, if necessary, quarantine and isolate them for treatment, should they prove to have the virus.”
He, however, made exemptions to this directive. Some essential service providers will not be forced to lock down.
The list of services to be exempted from the restrictions as announced by President Akufo-Addo are as follows:
- Members of the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary;
- Production, distribution and marketing of food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, medicine, paper and plastic packages.
- Environmental and sanitation activities;
- VALCO staff
- Road and Railway construction workers;
- Mining workers;
- Fisherfolk;
- Members of the security agencies assigned lawful duties;
- The staff of electricity, water, telecommunications, e-commerce and digital service providers;
- Fuel stations staff and
- The Media.
Ghana currently has a total number of 152 recorded cases, with five deaths and two recoveries.