By Wally Bah
The Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh has revealed to journalists on Tuesday,10 March, 2020 that the country would need US$8 million to fully implement a preparedness and response finalised plan against the COVID 19 in the event it hits the Gambia.
He was speaking at the Central Medical Stores in Kotu where a joint tri-parte press conference was convened by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization office in Banjul, and the Chinese Embassy in the country,
Health Minister Samateh reported that his Ministry has already disbursed D4 million to his ministry, adding that as part of efforts geared towards the preparation against the COVID-19, the Health Ministry is doing all preparation necessary against the virus.
“There is no cause for alarm, but there is also no room for complacency about the virus; though we have not been hit yet, ” he told the gathered journalists.
He called on Gambians to encourage the washing of hands and also avoid sneezing openly in public.
H.E. Ma Jianchum, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to The Gambia, told the press that statistics had shown that the number of cases about the virus has subsided.
He pointed out that as concern is building regarding the Gambian students living in Wuhan, China, which was hit by Coronavirus, no Gambian student has so far, been affected by COVID 19.
He assured Gambians that the Chinese Government is doing all it could so as to protect foreigners, and to allay their fears.
The WHO’s Country Representative Dr. Desta A. Tiruneh, reminded members of the press that WHO has declared the Coronavirus as a health emergency in January 2020, saying more consolidating efforts need to be put in place to contain the disease.
Meantime, the world health body has now depicted the outbreak of COVID-19–which is spreading fast across the globe–as a “pandemic”. It has been regarded as one of the most serious public health crises in decades.
