The Ministry of Health yesterday revealed that the country has registered two more cases of COVID-19 bringing the total number to twenty-two. It was also revealed that the duo had recently returned to the country from Senegal.
Last week, the officials revealed that a man who had returned from Senegal tested positive for COVID-19 and that there were others in quarantine who had also come from Senegal. This case was in Bakau which prompted a mass testing in that community.
Since one of the measures taken by government to stem the spread of this virus was to close the border between The Gambia and Senegal, it is now necessary to look into this closure. Is the closure tight enough if people are still re-entering the country?
If it is found to be poros, shouldn’t government make more efforts to ensure that people do not enter the country anyhow and anytime from Senegal? It is well known that the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire in that country. Thus, every effort should be made to ensure that no one imports it into the country.
The danger is having local transmissions because once those begin it will almost be impossible to contain. This is a lesson The Gambia should learnt from Senegal. If the spread reaches that level then the country has to be prepared to contend with hundreds if not thousands of cases.
It is not a secret that The Gambia is nowhere near ready to deal with cases of such magnitude. The Government should seal the borders and be stricter in enforcing the rules of the State of Public Emergency so that the country can come out of this as soon as possible and with as little casualties as possible.
