Senior Research Fellow at the Virology Laboratory of the West African Institute for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), Peter Kojo Quashie has said that the COVID-19 pandemic amid the election period has presented a test to all political leaders around the world to choose between enforcing the adherence of safety protocols and allowing their followers to disregard the protocols during their campaigns.
Speaking on the topic, ‘COVID-19: Public attitude amid second wave scare’ on e.TV Ghana’s Fact Sheet, the Senior Research Fellow expressed: “Unfortunately this [non-enforcement of safety protocols] is something we have seen all around the world during elections. It becomes a calculation gain; your vote versus whether they need to enforce COVID-19 protocols. Leaders must live by example. It is happening all around the world where elections are ongoing.
It is unfortunate that you expect leaders to lead by example. It is an election year and it is kind of hard to justify it. But it has been something that we have seen playing around the world in countries where they have elections. In the US for example, Tanzania and all across our sub-region”.
In addressing the news of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana, Peter stated that Ghana can only determine if it is in its second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic if it does extensive testing on citizens.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has called on political parties to use their platforms to continually drum home the need for their supporters to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols, especially during their campaign tours.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
