Greater Accra contact tracers lament unpaid allowances

COVID-19 Contact tracers in the Greater Accra region have lamented over unpaid allowances by government.

President Akuffo Addo, during his National Address on COVID-19, announced that as part of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus that contact tracing be done for all persons who test positive for COVID-19.

This is to contact, trace and collect samples of suspected cases. Some health workers were deployed as contact tracers from April 1 to aid the exercise and were expected to be paid 150cedis a week from the president.

According to the contact tracing team, they have not been paid allowances due them.

‘We received monies for April 1-19 but we still worked until June 3 when we were told payment for the Contact tracing ended on 19th April.” one of them lamented. They argued that before they started work i.e. contact tracing it was an agreement between them and government and so any change in agreement should be made known to them as well.

On the 21st of May 2020, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service Dr. Patrick Aboagye stated during a Ministry of Information press briefing that, “according to their records all contact tracers have been paid.”

The situation however is different according to contact tracers in the Greater Accra region who claim they have worked for 44 days without payment thus a plea to the President to pay them.

The team stated that even though some contact tracers across the country had been laid off after a reduction in suspected cases, the Greater Accra region had a different narrative as cases in the region continued to rise.

As at June 11, 2020, the number of confirmed cases in the country is 10,358 with 6486 active cases, 3824 recoveries and 48deaths.The Greater Accra region continues to top the chart with 6,642 cases, Ashanti region- 1799, Western region-778, Central Region-539, Eastern region- 198 and Volta region- 162.

With the daily rise in COVID-19 cases in the country, especially in the Greater Accra region, contract tracers are pleading with government to pay all outstanding allowances as they continue to work assiduously in the fight against the pandemic.