COVID-19: Health practitioners warn EC to suspend voter registration

- Doctors in Ghana have written a petition to the EC express concern of the voter registration exercise ongoing

- The medical practitioners say the EC should suspend the voter registration to prevent a future crisis

- The doctors say the ongoing registration will escalate Ghana's COVID-19 numbers in future

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Some Ghanaian health professionals have for the second time written to the Electoral Commission (EC) to suspend the ongoing registration exercise following a spike in the country’s COVID-19 cases.

The 221 health workers say the exercise, when suspended, will also help reduce the needless deaths recorded in the country due to the contagion.

“Pause the mass registration, figure out safer ways of carrying it out and prevent Ghana from suffering potentially thousands of deaths or continue with the exercise in this form and be remembered by posterity as a leader who supervised an exercise that allowed for the loss of multiple lives,” the group said in its letter to the commission.

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The health professional comprising doctors, nurses, lab technicians among others, had earlier petitioned the EC cautioning against the rollout of the mass registration for Voter ID cards over fears of COVID-19 death hikes.

According to them, the blatant disregard for the Coronavirus safety protocols in the exercise is inimical to the current public health crisis in the country.

In their second open letter to the EC, the health professionals say the Commission must roll out safer ways of conducting the exercise to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

“We are by this letter appealing to your good self to pause this mass registration exercise until your commission comes up with a safer way of going about this registration. That will prevent the almost inevitable rise in COVID-19 cases, with its attendant increases in morbidity and mortality and will position you firmly on the right side of history, as a public official who chose to prevent needless deaths. We would entreat you to treat this correspondence with a lot of thought and measured reflection, thinking rightly about the primacy of life before any other considerations”, the letter said.

The first phase of the exercise, began on Tuesday, June 30, amid reports that many registrants flouted Covid-19 safety protocols.

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A Director of Elections at the Electoral Commission, Dr. Serebour Quaicoo had said that their staff had been directed to drive away any person who does not adhere to the safety protocols at the registration centers.

The exercise which is being held at over 33,000 centers nationwide will end on August 6, 2020.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Ghana has confirmed 697 new Covid-19 cases pushing the country’s caseload to 20,085.

The latest data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) also confirmed that 122 persons have died after contracting the deadly contagion.

Ghanaians react to new voter registration exercise | #Yencomgh

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Source: YEN.com.gh