The deputy CEO of Coastal Development Authority (CODA), Kingsley Kofi Karikari Bondzie has described as irresponsible the stigma persons who suffer and recover from Covid-19 continue to face.
Mr Bondzie, having recovered from the disease, in an interview on ATLFM’s Atlantic Wave on Monday said he has faced intense stigma from some close relatives and community members.
“I am sorry to say this but it is extremely silly and I am very sad for our community. I am an active member of my community and on my sick bed a cousin is playing politics with my predicament by going to the Wiamoah community to tell them I have contracted the disease and so if I come there they should chase me away.”
While narrating his ordeal on radio, he questioned why people could exhibit characters extremely demeaning to recovered persons.
“I am discharged, I go to a shop in Asebu, I try to do an elbow greeting with the attendant and she won’t even respond. I am discharged and I am told to go and distribute outboard motors and my counterpart who is from the Ministry of Fisheries and Aqua Culture says I have contracted coronavirus so he can’t meet me”, he lamented.
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He also noted that some close friends around him who had not contracted the disease had to suffer the stigma because of him.
“What kind of society is this?” he quizzed.
Mr. Bondzie, who could not tell how he contracted the disease, said he believed it might have been as a result of close contact he had with the Takoradi Mayor who succumbed to the virus some weeks ago.
He advised the public not to compromise their safety but rather strictly adhere to all hygienic protocols.
“Not all people can survive this. If 148 people have died from this, I could have been one of them. This is real”, he cautioned.
“Our systems are not the same, you see somebody healthy but tests positive, but you may not be as healthy as they are when you also test positive so we should be very careful” he added.
Mr. Kingsley Kofi Karikari Bondzie extended appreciation to the health professionals who treated him and ensured he regained his health both at the University of Cape Coast Hospital and later the Cape Coast Teaching hospital where he was transferred to.
Source: Joseph Kobina Amuah/ATLFMNEWS
