I have been following the trend of the event since the 12th of December, 2019 when the disease first broke out in Wuhan China with keen interest and the way it is spreading in some part of the world like a bush fire in the peak of a dry season.

I have also been studying its effect on the people of my country Ghana and the entire West African countries. It is my view that the disease was “dead on arrival” long before the president decided to step in and my reasons are as follows:

The time in between when the disease first broke out in Wuhan China and when our President first announced his interventions:

The disease was first discovered in China- Wuhan, around the 12th of December, 2019. However, the government decided to take a step to arrest the situation somewhere in the month of March, 2020. A period of well over four months.

I know almost over 400 passengers travelled from China into this country each day within this time. Hence we expected a total number of close to 50,000 passengers from China alone within this time when there was no such restriction in place.

Now the question is, does it mean that in between this period of almost four months when our boarders were widely opened, no one came in with the disease before the $100,000,000.00 was declared by the president somewhere in the month of March?

Well if some did come in, then how come the disease have not been able to make the necessary impact like it is in the temperate regions like Great Britain, American, Italy and most of the superpower nations we know of? Remember, these nations which are been affected most have all the state of the art equipment medically unlike us.

I believe we should be worse off by now if not at par with those countries aforementioned by now if the virus really is alive here.

The malaria-like symptoms of the Covid 19:

As a people from the sub-Saharan Africa, we have survived these symptoms for millions of years.

It is only true that the Europeans could not do that hence a lot of them died when they tried to settle here. I also know the cost of treating the malaria disease in the United and other places should not be less than $20,000.00 per patient in view of the complicated nature of the disease.

In Ghana however, it is very simple and common disease which doesn’t require any protective clothing before treatment is done. In fact it is a household disease which a seven old boy should be able to cure it for you with any of our local medicines with ease. Others are naturally not affected at any amount of mosquitoes biting them.

After all, it is found to be treated with hydroxychloroquine which is even outmoded in Ghana because other good and sophisticated potent medicines have taken over.

Herbal medicines like Tabea, Herbaqueen and others are all dreaded by the so-called COVID 19. So I ask myself, who is this Covid19 to lock us down as country? So you see it died before arriving on the shores of the country except those who were attacked over longer period before getting here.

The temperature difference:

Scientifically, it has been proved that the virus requires a temperature below say fifteen degree Celsius for effective reproduction of the virus. I wonder where in Ghana can the virus finds this temperature for effective reproduction.

And I wonder how it will survive when reproduction does not take place? The excuse by the Doctors is that the virus can adapt easily but that has not been proven scientifically here in Ghana and hence can’t be substantiated. Here, all we know is that, though a lot of people came from China in the midst of the disease, we are yet to see the damage it can cause if any.

We have other deadly diseases like cerebrospinal meningitis which has within the same period have caused 37 deaths and have infested over 270 in only one out of the seven regions yet this disease has not caused the nation to lockdown. Hence, the fact still remains that the virus was dead on arrival

The way forward:

Government must Take Advantage of the Situation Instead of Crying Foul:

I see the current situation as an opportunity for Ghanaians and for that matter sub-saharan africans to start attracting investment opportunities into this country rather than doing the unnecessary by following the rest of the world blindly.

I have always asked myself why is the stay at home working for the people in the temperate zones? The answer is simply; temperature difference between that at home and that at the outside otherwise if you have it and you stay at home you should be infesting the disease with all your household.

Outside temperature is very cold hence conducive for easy reproduction and the survival of the virus as against the temperature at homes where there are heaters all over and hence the virus can’t reproduce. So the U.S President, Trump once said in his interview, “I am hoping to open the economy back by May when the sun will be back in full hopefully it will reduce the effect of the spread.”

Well whether you believe him or not, common sense should tell you that there is wisdom in what he is saying because scientifically the virus does not seem to perform well in a heated environment so only time can tell.

I still foresee a resurgence if care is not taken any time there is winter within the temperate zones especially and hence it will make business sense for investors to start looking for places with high resistance to this Virus and this is where we fit in perfectly because over there we stand advantage.

Let us start thinking outside the box for once please and not to follow the crowd. Just end the lockdown soon!

Choose both life and economy for the two cannot be separated from each other for any meaningful reason:

In the closing remarks of the President on the first day of announcing the lockdown, he said “I chose life over economy, for economy can always be revived but life cannot once it is lost.”

Well, I don’t know whether there could be any meaning to life when you are suffering in terms of hunger, imprisonment, the collapse of businesses, poverty, leading to all sort of illness and other related social issues such as domestic violence and even death which you are trying to avoid. I have seen a lot of people committing suicide as a result of untold hardship resulting from a mismanaged macroeconomy.

Example, why would Africans risk their lives crossing the Saharan desert, and even the dead sea to Europe? It is basically in search of better lives.

You think they don’t know they can lose their lives in the process or what Mr. President? In deed more Africans and for that matter Ghanaians have died out of poverty than any particular disease have ever killed them.

The repercussions of this lockdown will far outweigh that which this “dead on arrival” Covid-19 will manage to cause to the lives of the people. From where I sit, there is no meaning to life when your freedom is as stake in the midst of these frustrations and that is where

I believe the two must of necessity go together. Human being are social animals and hence I will rather advice the president to go for all the two for there can’t be any meaning to life in the mist of avoidable chain of hardships.

Jurisprudential law will tell you to use the utilitarian approach to solve this problem in such a situation so you don’t lose it all.

Setting up dedicated centers to manage and treat Covid-19:

Government must set up dedicated centers in all the sixteen Regional Capitals to address possible situations which may come in the near future and even develop some of these areas into international centers for the Covid-19.

For each region, a community park or school can be used for that purpose without any complex infrastructure to start with. Knowing that Ghana and for that Africa can always be the place of hope for the treatment of this deadly disease, the international community will troop in when the need arises.

As for me, I foresee an annual resurgence until a reliable vaccine is completely developed, Ghana must be seen by the world as the “PLACE OF HOPE FOR COVID-19” Patients across the diaspora.

Additionally, let’s lead the way by developing and promoting some of our local medicines for export to the most affected countries. We can only that do that if we don’t pretend that we dying here from the disease when indeed we are not for reasons I cannot tell.

In conclusion, I will like to congratulate the leadership for the precautionary measures taken so far to for-store any unfortunate circumstances this virus would have caused.

That said, I urge the President to bring the lockdown to a halt any time soon in order that the whole exercise will not end up in futility and kick start the economy to bring back meaningful life to Ghanaians because obviously, the disease was “dead on arrival.”

For private businesses have suffered for far too long under this government with all sort of flimsy excuses as it is been perpetrated now leading to the lockdown.

It is true that we may discover some more people contracting and showing signs of the virus but as to whether it can knock us down and kill us as it is doing in the temperate regions I have my doubt in view of the above-stated reasons.

Thanks, and God Bless us all.