We hope that Government, through the Ministry of Health, is taking the tests seriously. We hope that the tests efforts are expended to all those within government circles to start with, and throughout those within the health sector and to all departments and agencies.
Testing for corona virus should be free and strategic points should be identified by the Government where people can freely access to do the test. So far this is lacking, and many people falling ill are finding it hard to be tested, not to mention those who would like to just take a test.
It should be noted that Gambians are very social beings and, in many instances, when a calamity befalls or a cultural event takes place, it is very difficult to control the crowd growth. Other times, curiosity could be reason to draw large crowds.
The law enforcement officers should be firm in dispersing crowds, warning people to wear face masks and ensuring adherence to the other measures. However, they should also be understanding that people will take time to fully understand the implications as not enough sensitisation has really been conducted across the country and many still live in denial.
We therefore call on His Excellency the President to make short appearances during these trying times to speak to the public. The public have great respect for authority and the President’s addresses would have much greater impact than anything else.
He should repeat what he did once in the early days of the Corona pandemic and speak with the people in the many languages he can speak, emphasising on the need to take the measures seriously and theses communications should be broadcast through all the television stations and radios in the country. Surely this will help a lot to make people consider taking this seriously and many lives would be saved in the process.