The Central Regional Minister, Mr. Kwamena Duncan has bemoaned the rising challenges that fraught the efforts of health personnel working to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the region.
He specifically mentioned the uncooperative attitude of some individuals traced as coming into contact with Covid-19 patients who are to be mandatorily quarantined at Moree in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese district of the region.
The minister made the observation when he was speaking at the launch of a disinfection exercise of Police facilities in the region.
“First they themselves are not ready to be placed on quarantine and second we have some young men who rise up in the town not ready to permit for us to engage with them, so it is very difficult for us in Moree”, he noted.
Already, the region has recorded a number of resistances from community residents over the choice of locations for quarantine centres.
Residents of of Brafoyaw in the region mounted road blocks at the main entrance of Aggrey Memorial Senior High School when rumours broke out that authorities were planning to use the school as a quarantine centre for COVID-19 suspected cases.
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Members of the community said their resistance was to safeguard the lives of residents and particularly teachers and their families who live on the school campus.
A similar incidence also occurred at Assin Manso in the Assin South district of the Central region.
Residents also held a demonstration over rumours that the Senior High School in the community, Assin Manso SHS, was to be used as quarantine centre for COVID-19 case contacts.
With the continuous sensitization by the regional health directorate on the pandemic, incidence of resistance of sites for quarantine centres in the region has slowed.
However, noncompliance by individuals who are suspected to have been in contact with Covid19 patients to go on quarantine, according to Mr. Kwamena Duncan, is the new strain of resistance that calls for worry in dealing with containing the virus.
He said his office together with the Covid19 management team and the security force in the region has initiated talks with opinion leaders to engage their residents on the need to assist so that those identified through the contact tracing are mandatorily quarantined.
According to him, all efforts in that direction have proven futile thereby describing it as “a really difficult situation”
Flouting Social Distancing Protocols in the Region
According to the minister other reports still indicate that people are defiant of the social distancing protocol especially at the beaches.
He complained saying, ”from my underground reports , in terms of social distancing when you get to the beaches that is still not observed , you see people gathering to play ludu , drafts and the likes, all in breach of social distancing, so there is a real difficulty in these coastal towns” .
Mr. Kwamena Duncan made laid emphasis on the Elmina situation, where cases of the virus are on the rise yet “they still haven’t come to the realization of how real the disease is”.
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The regional minster hence ceased the opportunity to appeal to the conscience of residents especially those within fishing communities in the region to adhere to the social distancing protocol.
The central region has currently dropped a step on the regional distribution table of covid-19 cases in the country.
The region with 337 cases places fourth relinquishing its earlier position of third to the Western region which currently has recorded 344 cases. The Greater Accra region continues to lead with 5,008 cases whilst the Ashanti Region comes second with1, 085.
Source: Joseph Kobina Amuah/ATL FMNEWS
