General News

Coronavirus: Ghanaian students will be evacuated when necessary – Akufo-Addo

22nd February 2020

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the government has not ruled out the option of evacuating Ghanaian students from the epicenter of China’s coronavirus outbreak.

According to him, the government is putting in place measures to ensure that their evacuation, “if it happens”, does not lead to the dissemination of fear and panic in Ghana.

Minority and students pressure

Some students residing in Wuhan have pleaded with the government to repatriate them from the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

According to them, they feel abandoned by the government given that North African countries such as Morrocco and Egypt have airlifted their nationals on chartered flights.

The Minority in Parliament has also been mounting pressure on government to immediately evacuate the students since the outbreak of the disease had created general panic among them.

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According to them, things would become riskier if the government waited for there to be a confirmed case before evacuating its nationals.

The Minority Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who addressed the press in Parliament last Wednesday acknowledging the WHO protocols requirements for the safe evacuation of nationals and urged the government to follow such laid-down protocols to evacuate the students.

2020 SONA

But delivering the 2020 State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday, President Akufo-Addo said the government was in constant touch with the Chinese government to ensure that the students’ wellbeing was being catered for.

“Most of these students are on Chinese government scholarships and since the crisis started, the Chinese government has done its best to keep with the supply of food and logistics. However, we know that no amount of logistics will make up for the stress and trauma that these students are going through,” he said.

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