The ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has presented Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the Ministry of Health (MoH) towards the fight of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country.
The medical supplies which are worth over $400,000 sourced by Ghana’s Embassy in China to the MoH in support of Ghana’s fight against COVID-19 include ventilators, KN95 and surgical nose masks, goggles, surgical gloves isolation gowns, medical shoe covers, gun thermometers, disinfectants, and wipes.
Speaking at the ceremony, deputy minister for the Foreign Ministry Charles Owiredu expressed profound gratitude to Ghana’s Mission in China for the kind and timely donation of medical supplies to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. “I commend our Embassy in China for this laudable initiative and for facilitating the speedy arrival of these much needed medical supplies, which will no doubt go a long way to augment the effort of the government to fight this pandemic. The ministry and GOG are sincerely grateful to all the Chinese companies that contributed to this donation.”
He added that “COVID-19 is a global issue and a threat to our collective existence. That is why we require a collective response to mitigate and possibly eradicate its devastating impact. The Government of Ghana (GOG) is encouraged by the global response and highly commend efforts made by all government institutions across the globe to curb its spread. We are confident that the combined efforts by all institutions, both public and private would yield the right the result.”
Receiving the PPEs, Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye thanked the foreign ministry and the mission in China for the generous donation and for its commitment to supporting frontline health workers during this time.
“The approach in this country when it comes to COVID-19 has been an all government approach and we value the partnership from the ministry for foreign affairs and that’s why my boss [Kwaku Agyemang-Manu] asked me to come here and make sure that this particular presentation is done very well.
It is not for nothing that Ghana has the lowest mortality rate from COVID-19. Our rate stands at 0.4 % which means that when you get about 1000 people who tested positive for COVID you might lose 4. Our number is low not by accident but because of this aggressive policy of going out to look for people and testing them to make sure we receive positive people on time; we can’t wait until they are sick,” Okoe Boye said.
He urged all to stay safe and adhere to all the safety protocols.
The case count for COVID-19 in Ghana is 5,530 with 674 recoveries and 24 deaths