The Coalition of NGOs in Health has criticised the response by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease that is fast becoming a global health threat.

Chairman of Coalition, Dr. Gabriel Bernaku, said on Monday that the response by the two state institutions was very poor, scoring them 30% for how they have reacted to prevent the disease from entering Ghana.

Speaking on Adom FM’s current affairs show, Burning Issues, Monday, January 27, 2020, Dr Bernaku said the public education on the disease has been very poor since the government has not initiated any mechanism to educate Ghanaians on the epidemic.

He also asserted the government has not done anything at the various entry points of the country to check those who come in. He singled out Ghana’s borders with Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo and said these entry points have not been secured to ensure persons infected with coronavirus do not enter the country with the disease.

Government’s failure to activate surveillance centres to quarantine people who will exhibit symptoms of the disease is the final reason Dr. Bernaku said the two institutions have failed to demonstrate that they are on top of issues.

Meanwhile, Head of the Disease Surveillance Department (DSD) of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, indicated earlier on the show that, people coming to Ghana are made to fill a health declaration form at the airport to ascertain their proximity to infected persons to inform the next step the department takes.

He noted that if one’s temperature is not high, he or she will fill the form and leave, whilst those with high temperature are monitored even though they will not be quarantined.

He revealed that the Greater Accra Regional Hospital has been prepared to take care of cases that would surface in Accra and Tema.

Treatment centres, according to Dr. Asiedu-Bekoe, would be set up at places where the disease would be detected to take care of victims.

Meanwhile, some Ghanaian students in China have also been calling on the government to evacuate them back home.

Secretary of National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in China, Bernard Boamah Bekoe, told host, Akua Boakyewaa Yiadom that some neighbouring countries to China quarantine people from China eight days irrespective of their status before releasing them.

Mr Bekoe gave the assurance that all Ghanaian students in China are currently safe.

At least 3,000 cases of the coronavirus have been reported since its detection at the latter part of December 2019. It has so far claimed 80 lives.