Coronavirus: Ghanaian student in China calls on govt to develop contingency evacuation plan

A Ghanaian student studying clinical medicine in a Chinese university has called on the government of Ghana to put in place a contingency evacuation plan to help Ghanaian students leave the country, should the outbreak of coronavirus escalate any further.

Giving Ghanaweb an insight into the current situation on the outbreak, the student who spoke on condition of anonymity said even though the Chinese government has been doing its best to manage the situation, the government of Ghana should not hesitate to evacuate its citizens if things get worst.

“Right now the Chinese government is putting in their best and is trying to find a vaccine for this virus. There was news that came out this morning that some people have been cured, so about the government, we just have to put our faith in the Chinese government. My government (government of Ghana) should also give their support and get updates on our wellbeing.

If the situation gets a little bit worse and ugly then maybe they should put in an evacuation team to come and get us out. But right now, so far so good the Chinese government is putting in their best and they are doing whatever they can to get this virus out.”

According to the Yangtze University student, the outbreak has caused the closure of shops in the city of Jingzhou where his campus is located, with only a few shops opening at particular times of the day.

Jingzhou city is in the same Hubei province as Wuhan city, the city worst hit by the outbreak.

He revealed that even though the university is currently on vacation, some students including himself who are staying back on campus have been forced to stay indoors in the wake of the outbreak.



“The current situation for us left in the city or living on campus is we have to survive on what we have now, because you cannot go out, if you go out it is at your own risk. That’s the problem now, you can go out though but maybe if you want to get stuff then you have to be fully protected with a mask and sometimes gloves and when you come back you just wash your hands and try to stay safe. That’s what we are doing now.”

He added that the school has declared an indefinite vacation in the wake of the outbreak.

Earlier this week, the Wuhan Chapter of Ghanaian students requested a government evacuation, saying they have run out of food and other essential supplies.

But after receiving help in the form of foodstuff from the Ghanaian ambassador to China, Ambassador Edward Boateng, the students rescinded their request to the government.

In a related development, the director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Dr Badu Sarkodie says Ghanaian students locked up in areas in China worst hit by the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus should not be allowed to into Ghana for the time being.

“If they are in the area where the virus has been detected, I will suggest we don’t permit these students to move out because that area is on lockdown in China.

“But if they are not at those areas then let’s use the various means including Immigration procedures and the various Health processes to deal with it so that it does not affect anyone.”

He added that the Ghana Health Service has put in place measures screen persons entering into the country.

Since the first case of coronavirus was reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, there have been over seven thousand reported cases of infection with over a hundred recorded deaths worldwide.

In China, there have been recorded cases of coronavirus infections in all of the various provinces in the country.