The Catholic Bishops of Ghana have directed the Clergy and lay faithful of the Church in the West African country to “avoid handshakes and embracing one another during Kiss of Peace.”
In a Statement issued on March 3, 2020 and signed by the Most Rev. Philip Naameh, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Catholic Bishops also encouraged their flock to receive Holy Communion in the hand during Mass while the Ministers and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should wash their hands or use sanitizer before and after distributing Holy Communion.
According to the statement, Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that are known to cause illness ranging from common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, directives are part of precautionary measures being put in place by the Prelates to curb the possible spread of the virus.
In the statement informing Catholics of Ghana about the Coronavirus, the Bishops noted that the prevention was key to avoid its spread and entreated the faithful to wash their hands often with soap and water or use sanitizers, wash fruits and vegetables well before eating and cooking and avoid physical contacts with people with suspicious signs and places of outbreak.
The Bishops’ Statement also said with Nigeria confirming a case of CODVID-19 on February 27, the number of countries that have reported cases has risen including three African countries and in Ghana it is reported that 30 cases have been suspected and all tested negative.
With the virus getting closer to Ghana, they cautioned to clean their hands frequently by using soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub, telling them: “When hands are visibly dirty, wash with soap and water at least 30 seconds under running water and wipe your hands dry.”
With these frightening and soaring statistics, the Prelates advised Catholics in the 3-page statement to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands and after touching a sick person or surface that could be contaminated, reminding them that: “when coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue-throw tissue away immediately and wash hands with soap and water.”
“If you have fever, cough, sneezing, sore throat and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider,” the statement implored, asking them “to talk to your healthcare provider about travel history-all places you have visited recently.”
Adding, the Ghanaian Bishops asked Catholics to inform health care providers “if they have had close contact with a person with suspected or confirmed infection or a person who has travelled outside the country recently.”
“If possible, isolate yourself or avoid contact with family members when you have any symptom and keep distance of at least one step from a person showing signs of fever, coughing, sneezing and difficulty in briefing, the Bishops warned.”
The Bishops called for intensive prayers to end spread of the disease and advised Catholics and the public to help prevent it.
Several known coronaviruses circulate and cause disease in animals. A spill-over event occurs when a virus that is known to circulate in animals is found to have been transmitted to humans due to increased contact between animals and humans. COVID-19 is a novel Coronavirus that was first confirmed in Wuhan Province China following reports of a series of cases of pneumonia. The disease has since spread to involve others including family members and health workers and spread outside China. Even though the infection has been linked to the animal market in Wuhan, the animal source is yet to be identified.
The coronavirus COVID-19 is reported to have affected 69 countries and territories around the world. According to worldometers.info’s updates on Coronavirus, the number of confirmed cases worldwide had reached nearly 89,235 with 3,051 deaths and 45,197 recovered cases.
Meanwhile, 48,248 of the cases are inactive or closed now. Out of the total closed cases, 45, 197 (94%) recovered fully and got discharged from the hospital while 3,051 (6%) died.
On Friday, 28 February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the spread of the virus is “getting bigger”. Cases in China remain the highest with 80,000 cases with 2,912 deaths, followed by South Korea, 4,335 cases and 26 deaths; Italy 1,696 with 34 deaths and Iran 978 cases with 55deaths.
Meanwhile, in line with the Bishops directives, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has advised religious leaders and Ghanaians in general to adhere to preventive measures in public places to see to it that coronavirus does not find its way into the country.
Speaking at the Centenary Anniversary of the Presbyterian cluster of schools in Suhum, Dr. Bawumia, he advised them to avoid handshakes and other close contacts in public places as the government is doing everything possible to prevent the virus from entering Ghana.
“So far the government is taking measures and the Ministry of Health has announced various measures put in place to try and deal with this. To our traditional leaders, we will have to think about how frequently we shake hands with each other across the country,” he said according primenewsghana.com.
He added that “It is a risk we have to take, it is difficult to change this attitude but we have to put everything aside and do what is needed. Let’s wash our hands regularly, cover your mouth and nose when sneezing because you could spread in that manner”.
The Ghana Health Service has allayed fears that there is a suspected case of coronavirus in the Ashanti Region. The suspect showed symptoms of the virus in Kumasi over the weekend shortly after his return from Germany where over a hundred cases have been recorded.
