Speaking at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the equipment would be presented to the National Media Commission (NMC), Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and other stakeholders for onward distribution to media organisations.

He noted that the donation was to support the media which has played critical roles in the fight against the spread of the disease in the country.

In addition to government’s efforts to fight coronavirus, the Minister said, the country would, from Thursday, commence real-time COVID-19 testing owing to the clearing of the backlog of samples by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR).

Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, explained that Ghana’s COVID-19 fatality rate was currently low due to the early implementation of precautionary measures by the government and called on the public to continuously observe all protocols to ensure the fight against the disease was successful.

Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Aboagye, urged positive patients to make themselves available for containment and treatment and that people must stop stigmatising against COVID-19 patients.

“What we want to say is that being COVID-19 positive is not equivalent to death as people perceive and so let us try and work against stigma and encourage people to be tested and avail themselves to be admitted and contained,” he stated.

He called on Ghanaians to make personal hygiene protocols, social distancing, wearing of a mask and proper sanitation a part of their daily culture in response to curtailing the spread of the disease.

Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu called for cooperation from the public and allow contact tracers into their houses to ensure a successful fight against the disease that has infected 2,719 persons.