A Liberian male resident in Accra, but who is said to have spent the last four months in Ebola-ravaged Liberia, returned at the weekend, throwing his co-tenants into fear and panic.
Given the fact that about 2,000 Liberians have died in the last seven months as a result of the same Ebola, the reaction of the co-tenants and other Ghanaians in Sowutuom is understandable.
Though also quaking in his shoes, the landlord of the house accosted his tenant who proffered some documents purportedly declaring his Ebola-free status, but Mr. Denkyi, the landlord, declined to touch them for fear of being infected.
Denkyi did the next best thing by reporting the situation to the authorities nearest the grassroots � the police at Sowutuom.
A Chief Inspector, Asiedu, according to the Daily Heritage, interviewed the Liberian returnee, courageously inspected his documents, and eventually �acquitted and discharged� the brother from Liberia.
However, if we understood the story properly, the landlord has refused the tenant entry into his room, because his other tenants are threatening to move out en masse, thereby jeopardising the landlord�s income.
For his efforts, Mr. Denkyi is being lauded to the high heavens by other landlords and tenants in Sowutuom, where the returnee�s presence has reportedly become the talking point.
The Chronicle joins in the plaudits for landlord Denkyi, and also for the co-tenant who promptly reported the Liberian co-tenant�s return to Ghana.
Eternal vigilance is said to be the price humans must pay for their continued freedom. In our opinion, the same level of alertness is required to save oneself from the ignominious death that Ebola afflicts its victims with.
But, we have a problem with the approach of the authorities, unless they have done more than The Heritage reports them to have done last Friday.
We stand to be corrected, but we have not heard that an Ebola Unit has been set up in the Ghana Police Service.
If this position is right, we wonder on what basis a Chief Inspector at Sowutuom decided that the Liberian returnee was Ebola-free.
For all we know, our Liberian brother must be truly Ebola-free. After all, he came through the Kotoka International Airport, where even President John Dramani Mahama is subjected to Ebola screening. But, we have negligently not used the full scientific methodology that would give us conclusive proof of our returnee�s Ebola status.
The position of The Chronicle, in case there is still any doubt about it, is to totally isolate this Liberian, and all those who may into close contact with him since his return.
Luckily, Chief of Staff Prosper Douglas Bani told a joint Nigerian-US delegation last Thursday that the first isolation centre in the country had been completed in Tema, while work on two others in Kumasi and Tamale were due for completion in due course.
Our recommendation is that our returnee Liberians, and all those he has closely interacted with so far, should be the first occupants of the Tema quarantine centre.
The report on that meeting at the Flagstaff House indicated that Ghana sought to share in the successful Nigerian experience of how they managed to block the transmission of Ebola from the visitor from Liberia who died in Lagos from the virus.
If the truth be told, Nigerian health officials were not squeamish, they took the hard decisions they needed to without any inappropriate agency arrogating to itself the final decision on an issue they have no final expertise on.
The Chronicle calls on the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service and all their relevant agencies to wake up from their self-imposed slumber this moment, and ensure that our brother from Liberia is isolated today from all unprotected contacts with all residents in the country.
Unfailingly! Now!!
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