The Government has spent some GH¢1.9 billion providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and hot meals for students, teaching and non-teaching staff, hand washing facilities, training of teachers on COVID, development of content for online classes, and disinfection and fumigation of schools.
This made it possible for students to return to conditions of safety, sit for their respective examinations, and achieve successful results.
In addition, GH¢1.6 billion was made available to support vulnerable households across the country, which went into food packages and hot meals, the provision of free water for all, free electricity for lifeline consumers, and a 50% rebate for all others.
Some seven hundred and fifty million cedis (GH¢750 million) in soft loans and grants were also disbursed to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses according to President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The President said “Whilst we count the costs, COVID-19 also inspired our domestic manufacturing capabilities and deepened our self-reliance. The pharmaceutical industry, at my instigation, responded positively to the need for domestic production of sanitizers, disinfectants, and liquid soaps. Furthermore, Government was able to procure some eighty-one million cedis (GH¢81 million) worth of personal protective equipment, such as face masks, head covers, medical scrubs, and hospital gowns from domestic garment and textiles manufacturing companies for health workers, and for students going back to school to prepare and sit for their final examinations.”
“COVID-19 also highlighted the unequal distribution of healthcare facilities in the country, as we have tended to focus our healthcare infrastructure in Accra, Kumasi, and one or two of our other big cities. As we have seen, epidemics and pandemics, when they emerge, can spread to any part of the country.”
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kofi Atakora