GMA threatens strike if government fails to ban public gatherings
GMA threatens strike if government fails to ban public gatherings
The General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Justice Yankson has threatened to embark on a strike should government fail to impose restrictions on social gatherings.
According to him, the surge in active coronavirus (Covid-19) cases persist and there was the need for the government to act fast.
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In an interview with the media in Accra, Dr Yankson decried that upsurge in Covid-19 cases already had put health facilities “on their knees”.
He, therefore reiterated calls for rigorous measures to be implemented in order to curb the spike of the disease.
“The issue is very simple, we can only advice, and we can only advocate. The worst-case scenario is that we put our tools down but that might not be the solution for this pandemic because we don’t control the public purse, we don’t control the executive power. So we keep advising government,” Dr Yankson advised.
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He observed that the government does not operate alone but there were other stakeholders who are the first point in aiding the government in its decision.
“Mind you, there are first-line government advisors, and we do our best to interact with them collectively as a group, but the ultimate sanctioning of a particular activity has to come from the president.”
“So in as much as that we have made the case, the best we can do is to continue to advocate that these social gatherings are banned and if the powers do not really act in that direction, the worst case is that we will also put down our tools because we are also tired,” Dr Yankson decried.
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Already, the Association has issued a statement calling on government to place a ban on church services, funerals and other social gatherings.
GMA insisted that with the current trend where an average of 600 persons tested positive for the virus a day, a review of the imposition of restriction is inevitable.
The non-adherence to the Covid-19 safety protocols has the potential to further escalate the spread of the disease and appealed to the government to impose stricter measures in the fight against the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the latest update by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) the country has 3,940 active cases with 390 deaths and 59,553 people have recovered out of 63,883 cases recorded so far.
Report from the GHS indicates that at least 600 people contract the virus each day.
Source: www.spotonnews.net