Education Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, aka Napo, is up in arms against politicians who are trying hard to make political capital out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He observed that some politicians who are fit to be labelled as nation-wreckers were trying to use the virus, which is wreaking havoc on the globe, to score cheap political points.
The minister, who recently recovered from the virus, having been hospitalized for two weeks, spoke about the devastating effects of Covid-19, saying “you would not wish it for your enemy.”
According to him, the virus has brought untold hardship and, therefore, it would be inhumane for anybody to try to use Covid-19 to gain political advantage.
National Unity
Napo, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South, stated that Covid-19 is a critical national health issue, which should be tackled with a collective effort.
He said the virus does not discriminate on political lines or social status, therefore, everybody is at risk, for which reason all hands should be brought on deck to effectively deal with the virus.
Virus Real
Napo said the virus is real so the public should adhere to health protocols to stay safe.
According to him, his heart always bleeds whenever he sees people behaving as if the virus does not exist, stressing the need for people to practice social distancing and also adhere to other protocols.
Personal Experience
The Education Minister, who wanted to use his personal encounter with the virus to educate the masses, said at a point he endured so much pain that he feared that his life would end abruptly.
“I thought I would not live again because of the extreme pains and agony that I endured on the night of my admission at the hospital,” Napo said on Accra-based Peace FM.
He said even though he is a medical doctor, he has never been admitted to a hospital in his 52 years of life, adding that due to Covid-19, he was admitted together with five of his family members who were all being attacked by the virus.
“My horrifying experience should be enough to every Ghanaian about the need for us to support the government’s efforts and adhere to health protocols to defeat the disease in the country,” the MP said.
Covid-19 Source
According to him, it would be extremely difficult for him to trace where he was infected with the virus, indicating that he has always adhered to health protocols from day one, yet he got infected.
Napo was of the view that his experience speaks volumes about the tricky nature of the virus; therefore, all and sundry should come together to help eliminate the virus from the country.
“I had tested negative for the virus but in my body, I felt something was wrong,” he said. “I underwent additional tests and on Thursday, I was informed that I had tested positive for the virus, whilst on admission,” he added.
Media Intervention
Napo also stated that the media has a crucial role to play to enable the country to defeat the dangerous virus, saying that journalists should continue to use their mediums to create awareness about the virus.
“The media should use their powerful platforms to preach about the deadly nature of Covid-19 in order to create awareness in the minds of our people,” the Education Minister humbly suggested.
According to him, the active roles of the media would help to effectively explain the virus and its negative impact to the people so they would begin to strictly adhere to health protocols given by experts.
He stressed that complying with health protocols was the only way to prevent the people from being infected by the disease so the public should take note.
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