NYA conducts baseline study on COVID-19’s impact on the youth

The National Youth Authority (NYA) has started a baseline study, to provide quantitative information on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on Ghanaian youth, to aid the government to make the right decisions.

Mr. Sylvester Matthew Tetteh, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said the study was focusing on job losses and how the pandemic was affecting their health and other basic needs.

The NYA was using various social media platforms and websites to collect information.

He announced this at a media briefing to provide an update on Ghana’s COVID-19 case management situation, in Accra.

The NYA has made available to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) personal protection equipment (PPE), costing GHS70,000.00, to support of the fight to contain and stop the spread of the pandemic.

Additionally, it has trained and deployed 2,000 youth volunteers to the rural communities, to assist the public education campaign – helping the people to follow science and experts advice.

Mr. Tetteh said the volunteers had been supplied with 500 megaphones to carry out the education campaign in different local languages.

He encouraged the youth to continue to adhere to social distancing, respiratory hygiene, wash their hands with soap under running water, avoid handshakes, use alcohol-based hand sanitizers and to stay at home in their own interests.

Ghana's case count for COVID-19 now stands at 641, after testing 50,719 persons. The death toll is eight and 83 persons have fully recovered.

The steps taken by the government are meant to limit and stop the importation of the pathogen, detect and contain the spread, enhance contact tracing and testing, care for the sick, minimize the impact on economic and social lives and to boost the domestic capability and deepen our self-reliance.