Over the next six months, the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) would spend five million Ghana cedis to support efforts by the government to mitigate the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 crisis.
Mr Kwame Gyimah-Akwafo, GRCS President, announced this when the GRCS distributed foodstuffs to 5,000 households at Madina in La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal in the Greater Accra region.
He said GH¢ 970,000 would go into providing food and essential items to 50,000 vulnerable households in Accra and Kumasi, the hardest-hit areas.
The package includes educational materials on measures to stay safe.
The GRCS would also support key areas such as social mobilisation, risk communication, contact tracing and early detection.
The Society has already begun intense public awareness on the disease in the two cities.
Mr Gyimah-Akwafo urged the public to strictly comply with the Ghana Health Service’s protocols, such as staying at home, frequent handwashing with soap under running water, use of hand alcohol–based sanitisers, social distancing and proper use of disposal tissue when coughing or sneezing.
He also reminded the public that any individual could get infected by the respiratory disease, even after taking precautionary measures, therefore, warned against stigmatising patients.