Ghana first in Africa, third in the world in Covid-19 management

Ghana has been ranked as the best performing country in Africa in Covid-19 prevention measures, economic recovery and international cooperation.

The country has been also ranked third out of 108 countries surveyed by the Yicai Research Institute, part of China’s largest financial media group, Yicai Media Group.

Ghana came third in the world ranking after China and Sri Lanka.

Apart from Ghana, the only African country that appeared in the top 10, nine other countries were in the Asia-Pacific region, namely China, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia and New Zealand.

The highest-scoring European country was Germany, which came 23rd.

Methodology

The Yicai Research Institute used the SEIR epidemiological model to predict the state of the pandemic in different nations, classifying them as either Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious or Removed, as well as its own self-developed ‘social network-based virus transmission model.’

Countries with strict epidemic prevention policies, such as China, South Korea and Italy, all had the pandemic under control, and logged less than one newly confirmed case in July, the models showed. They based their calculations on earlier disease trajectories, with the assumption that asymptomatic cases continued to be present.

For those countries that had the outbreak under control in its early stages, and then saw new clusters emerge, all had more than one new infection in July, indicating that consistent epidemic prevention and control measures are essential.

Akufo-Addo’s strong leadership

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has touted President Akufo-Addo’s show of leadership in the fight against the novel coronavirus in the country. According to him, the President, through the management of the country’s COVID response, deserves praise for steering the country through the global pandemic.

Speaking at the fourth edition of the Nation Building Update, under the theme “Protecting Lives and Livelihoods in the midst of Crisis”, the Minister emphasised that President Akufo-Addo must be commended for display of excellent leadership even in the face of an external crisis.

“The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic would not be possible but for the excellent leadership shown by President Akufo-Addo. He took charge on Sunday evenings with his national updates, which many of us looked forward to. It is part of the exercise of transparency, and in these days that people are getting complacent, draw attention to the risk that are out there, particular the risk of a second wave and how to deal with it.

“Right from the onset, the President was at the centre of it, listening to experts opinion and managing the country’s COVID response base on science and data. It is this display of leadership that has brought the country where we are,” he said.

Intervention

Ghana first reported it first cases of the virus in March, 2020. This subsequently led to the announcement of series of measures by President Akufo-Addo, such as the closure of the country’s airport, closure of schools and the ban on movement in the Greater Accra Region as well as Greater Kumasi.

The Minister noted that these interventions from the President were timely, and helped limit the importation and spread of the virus, adding that every intervention by the President was taken in order not to put the country at risk.

He noted that though the fight against the virus is not over, Ghanaians should trust the leadership of the President and rally behind him to eliminate the virus in its entirety.