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Information being circulated on social media suggests that Nigerians have been exempted from a host of visa-related services into and within Dubai.

Nigeria is not the only nationality with no access to certain visa-related services in Dubai.

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An image and some news articles being widely circulated online and on Social media suggest that the United Arab Emirates, specifically Dubai, has put up some restrictions on Nigerians intending to visit the country and for those already in the country. 

According to the image, visa-related needs of Nigerians like renewals, tourist visa requests and others have been halted. See image below.

Verification

The United Arab Emirates in Nigeria released an official statement on the matter. This was released via their Official Twitter page yesterday August 6th, 2020.

According to the release, the purported imposition of restrictions on Nigerians seeking to travel to the UAE is inaccurate.

It further stated that the restrictions were based on Covid-19 related restrictions which have since been eased as at July 7th for all travellers with negative PCR tests results within 92 hours of traveling to the UAE, including Nigerians. 

The limitation of travel between Nigeria and UAE is credited to the continued closure of the Nigerian airspace and no other reason. 

See the statement below.

Dubawa further reached out to Flyworld as indicated on the image attached to this report. The response indicated that Visa renewals and tourist applications have been temporarily on hold since March 17th, 2020 and NOT  for Nigerians alone.

See response below.

UAE on expired visas and residence permits

According to the United Arab Emirates Government portal, the expired work permits and residence permits of labourers and support service staff such as domestic workers will be issued and renewed automatically. Also, foreigners who are visitors or residents of the country who also have expired visas will also receive extensions for their visa until December 2020.

This decision was supposedly taken in order to support visitors and residents in the country, following the suspension of air traffic. See specifications of the decision below.

“residents whose residence visas expired in early March 2020 or are due to expire later will receive an extension of their visas until the end of December 2020. This measure applies to both residents inside and outside the UAE. Foreign visitors to the UAE who couldn’t leave the UAE and whose visas expired in early March 2020 or are due to expire later, will also have their visit visas extended until the end of December 2020. In addition, residents whose Emirates ID cards expired in early March 2020 or later will also have their validity extended until the end of the current year.”

As seen, no specification is made as to which nationality this will apply to or otherwise and decisions taken are in light of the coronavirus pandemic and moves to mitigate the spread of the virus.

However, The UAE has since July 7th, 2020 began easing air traffic restrictions for citizens, visitors and residents in and outside the country. 

Conclusion

UAE has generally suspended visa-related services for most nationalities, including most African countries. Nigeria has not been singled out as a country not to be granted visa or travel-related services in the UAE.

With the dying interest in stories regarding coronavirus in Ghana at a time that the country’s preparations for elections are getting into high gear, not much is in the news about the pandemic ravaging the world. As periodic information about the global disaster remains important for most aspects of public and private life, here is an update.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the global confirmed case count for the Covid-19 pandemic currently rests at 18,902,735 as at August 7 with a death toll of 709,511 across 216 countries, areas and territories.

Updates from Worldometer, on the other hand, reports that the global death toll for the COVID-19 pandemic is now at 721,857 as at August 7, 2020, with 19,477,842 confirmed cases presently. 

Although the data varies slightly, it is clear that there is an increase in cases across the world. All is not lost however as 12,025,753 recoveries have also been recorded worldwide.

In Ghana specifically, infections continue to rise as confirmed counts reach 40,097  as of August 7, 2020, according to reports on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) website.

Recoveries and discharges are also at 36,638 and 206 deaths.  It is important to note that recoveries and discharges do not correlate even though reported as if they do. This is to say that an individual may be discharged without necessarily having recovered from the virus. This is because of the new discharge policy in effect since June 2020.

As stated by the President in his latest and 14th address to the nation on Covid-19, more and more restrictions have been eased in the country in the bid to restore some normalcy. All these changes are to take place with continued adherence to safety protocols.

Here are some of the changes:

• Increase in church service duration from one to two hours and the restriction on the number of congregants worshipping at a time has been lifted as of August 1, 2020. This is to say that there is no limit to the number of congregants to be present in worship centres henceforth. However, the safety protocols, social distancing, mask-wearing, and handwashing and sanitizer usage remain. Well-ventilated service spaces are prescribed for worship periods. 
• Opening of tourist destinations and open air drinking spots sites excluding nightclubs, pubs and the like.
• Full capacity in transport vehicles like taxis, buses etc

See more here.

Conclusion:

COVID-19 is still an ongoing threat to every individual, regardless of age, colour, social status, or nationality, thus making the need for constant update essential, even as the country prepares for general elections. 

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere-Darko, claims that Ghana experienced major power outages, ‘dumsor’ in 2016 and that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government published a power rationing schedule to that effect.

There were major power outages in Ghana in 2016 but we found no evidence to suggest that a load-shedding schedule was published that year as suggested by Mr Otchere-Darko. The photo attached to the tweet was denied by the Electricity Company of Ghana as originating from them when it surfaced in 2016.

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Ghana’s recent history includes battling serious energy crisis that saw intermittent power cuts popularly known as ‘dumsor.’

Ghana, during the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Mahama administration, saw publications of power outage schedules to indicate rationing of power in the country. 

The development has remained a major area of controversy between the opposition NDC and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). 

A leading member of the NPP, Mr  Otchere-Darko via his Twitter page on Sunday, August 2, 2020, made a post in which he claimed that power outages during the Mahama era extended from 2011 when he was Vice President to 2016 when the former president was voted out of power. 

Mr Otchere-Darko accompanied his post with a photo of one of the purported publications on power rationing schedule [for August 1, 2016, to August 14, 2016] to prove that the power rationing extended to 2016. 

The post has so far received over 1,000 reactions on Twitter.

A Deputy Minister for Power during Mahama’s administration, John Jinapor, in a counterclaim, challenged Mr Otchere-Darko’s position in a statement where he said: “there was no load shedding schedule published in the whole of 2016.”

Dubawa looked into the claims.

Verification: 

Gabby Otchere-Darko’s ‘dumsor’ schedule

In verifying the image shared by Mr Otchere-Darko as the supposed power rationing schedule published by the government in 2016, we conducted a reverse image search whose results showed a variation of the image tweeted by Mr Otchere-Darko. 

The variant image, which is of much better quality, had the exact information (except the dates) and its text positioned in the same way as those in the photo tweeted by Mr Otchere-Darko. 

The variant was seen on document-archiving site VDocuments on October 16. 2015. That image bears the date of a load-shedding exercise that was planned for March 17, 2014, to March 30, 2014. 

Graphic Online also published that same schedule on its website on March 19, 2014.  

See the difference below:

Our further checks revealed that the Electricity Company of Ghana in a statement on July 23, 2016, indicated that the supposed load-shedding schedule for August 1 to August 14 that had been widely circulated at the time was fake. 

The statement was also shared on ECG’s official twitter handle. 

The same disclaimer was published by Yen.com.gh. 

We, therefore, conclude that the supposed 2016 load-shedding schedule tweeted by Mr. Otchere-Darko is fake and false. 

‘Dumsor’ In 2016?

A series of Google searches conducted revealed that there were a number of extensive power outages experienced in the country in 2016 with areas such as Dansoman, Awoshie, Achimota, Taifa, and Kasoa mentioned as some of the areas most affected. 

According to Daily Graphic, President John Mahama at a meeting with the Council of Christian Churches in Kumasi on Thursday, June 30, 2016, admitted that the country was having a power challenge. 

“He said the crisis appeared to have been prolonged by the non-supply of gas from neighbouring Nigeria to feed thermal plants as a result of sabotage which led to the shutdown of the Asogli power plant…. President Mahama who was on his final leg accounting to the people’s tour of the Ashanti region expressed the hope that there would be more rains to increase the water levels of the Akosombo dam to improve hydro power to augment thermal production. Currently, Akosombo was operating below its minimum capacity of 240 feet but President Mahama was optimistic the situation will improve.” — Excerpts of Graphic’s report read. 

A publication on Peacefmonline sourced from Classfmonline in July 2016 also revealed how there were calls on the government and the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) to publish a load-shedding schedule to help residents plan their activities accordingly.

The then opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also issued a statement demanding a load-shedding schedule from the government but the Head of Public Affairs at the PURC, Nana Yaa Juantuah, in a response captured in a Citi FM report said the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) could not release a load shedding timetable because the erratic power supply  at the time was only a temporary problem.

Three weeks earlier on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, President Mahama, while delivering an address at that year’s Eid Celebrations at the Independence Square in Accra, said he would not declare a load-shedding because he was confident things would normalize soon. 

“We are not declaring load shedding; I believe things will normalize but we are taking steps every day to ensure that Ghana has security when it comes to power…Because of sabotage in Nigeria on the terminals, crude oil that we ordered last month has not arrived and so it has created some generational problems for us,” he was quoted to have said. 

The Deputy Minister for Power at the time, Mr Jinapor, in an interview on the Joy Super Morning Show on October 26, 2016, admitted that the country was having power challenges, confessing that “money has been one of the challenges” in fixing the issue. 

Conclusion

Based on the evidence above, we find that although there was a major power issue in 2016, the government did not formally declare it as a power crisis and was hesitant in releasing a power rationing schedule. 

Indeed, there is no evidence of any official power rationing schedule. The ECG denied photo which was shared by Mr Otchere-Darko when it surfaced in the public domain.

The reporter produced this fact-check under the auspices of the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship in partnership with Citinewsroom to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and to enhance media literacy in the country.  

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, says COVID-19 does not spread fast in buses.

Studies have proven that contracting COVID-19 on public transport is far less likely than it was earlier feared.

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In phase two of the easing of restrictions, President Akufo-Addo, in his 14th Address to the Nation on updates to Ghana’s Enhanced Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic on Sunday July 26th, lifted the restrictions in the transport sector.

“In consultation with the Ministries of Transport and Aviation, and the leadership of transport operators, Government has taken the decision to lift the restrictions in the transport sector and allow for full capacity in our domestic airplanes, taxis, ‘trotros’ and buses,” the President said.

Following that announcement, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), came out to explain that COVID-19 does not spread fast in public transports. 

“Our advice to allow all forms of transportation services to resume full operation is that, based on our contract tracing activities, we have had cases all over but we have not found anyone who traced the infection through transport,” Dr Kuma-Aboagye said.

He backed his claim further by saying the evidence so far in the country did not support the risk of transfer of COVID-19 in vehicles compared to other diseases.

Verification

Some scientists had earlier predicted that crowded public transport could stifle  Africa’s fight against COVID-19. The likelihood of the transmission of the virus in public transports resulting from overcrowding led health experts to recommend mitigating protocols like social distancing or spacing in vehicles.

This concern for managing the challenge of COVID spread in a confined setting within which people congregate led the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to develop some guidance for the transportation sector. 

This, however, triggered its own complications, as in South Africa, where it was reported that social distancing was affecting the country’s dysfunctional and vital public transport with commuters struggling to get transportation to destinations and drivers recording losses.

Dubawa conducted internet research and found some contact tracing studies and research conducted elsewhere which found fewer cases of COVID-19 infections in public transportation.

A recent study conducted by researchers at Sante Publique France, the National Public Health Agency and published on June 4, 2020, identified 150 COVID-19 infections and found that none of the 150 cases was traced to any form of transportation.

A similar study in Austria found that not one of 355 case clusters in April and May was traceable to those in transit.

Also, a cluster of COVID-19 disease in communities in Japan between January and April, 2020  came to a conclusion that fewer percentage of “super-spreader” events was traced  to public transport.

However, the studies revealed that the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 was higher in offices, restaurants and bars.

The daily mail reported on its website on August 3 that there was no available data in the UK about the risk of contracting COVID-19 on public transport.

The report added that analysis of contact tracing data by Sam Schwartz, a former New York City traffic commissioner, found that only four per cent of 1,300 of COVID-19 hospital admissions in early May had used public transport prior to infection.

We further spoke to Dr Kwabena Sarpong, Deputy Director of GHS in Charge of Public Health in the Central Region, to get an understanding of the transmission of the virus in public transport. He said that people are at low risk of contracting COVID-19 in public transport. 

“I know some works have been done which suggests that there is a low risk of contracting the virus in public transport compared to other places but that does not also mean it is impossible to contract it in public transport,” he said.

He further explained that people are not likely to talk, sing, and shout in buses and indicated that the virus spread through droplets from an infected person through speaking, singing, coughing, and sneezing.

“If you are in a public transport loaded to capacity, you have to exercise personal responsibility and ensure that you wear the approved face masks and also make sure you or the person sitting close to you does not talk or shout,” he added.

Conclusion 

Contracting COVID-19 on public transport is far less likely than it was earlier feared. Although it is not 100 per cent certain that one can not contract COVID-19 in public transports, its infection rates, according to studies, are very low.

The reporter produced this fact-check under the auspices of the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship in partnership with Ghana News Agency to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and to enhance media literacy in the country.  

News websites report Education Minister says all students are returning to school on September 8.

The website which originally published the story is a satirical site. Also, there is no indication the Education Minister has made any such announcement.

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Most of Ghana’s students are currently at home due to COVID-19 restrictions except for final year Senior and Junior School students and University students who the government cleared to resume classes in June 2020 to complete their academic terms and sit for their exit examinations.

“From Monday, 15th June 2020, the decision has been taken, after engagement with the Teacher Unions, whose co-operation I salute, to re-open schools and universities to allow for final-year junior high, senior high and university students to resume classes ahead of the conduct of their respective exit examinations. Indeed, final year university students are to report to their universities on 15th June; final year senior high school (SHS 3) students, together with SHS 2 Gold Track students, on 22nd June; and final-year junior high school (JHS 3) students on 29th June. JHS 3 classes will comprise a maximum of thirty (30) students; SHS classes a maximum of twenty-five (25) students, and University lectures will take place with half the class sizes,” President Akufo-Addo announced on May 31, 2020.

However, some website publications claim the Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has announced that all Ghanaian students are returning to school in September 2020.

Websites such as AddressGhana.com, Mediaghananews and Hardtruthgh.com that have published the stories claim that the minister said the decision was taken following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

“The green light for the resuming of all Ghanaian students has finally been shown, as students ranging from basic school to tertiary are to return back to their respective classrooms on Tuesday, 8th September 2020….According to the minister, since all restrictions as far as the pandemic is concerned has been lifted, it has also become necessary for schools to also resume. He went on to say, with the easing of the restrictions, these students will be seen all over the place, which wouldn’t be better off than them being school,” excerpts of the report read.

The claim has been shared on some pages on social media. 

Verification

Given that most students are currently at home due to COVID-19 restrictions, such a major announcement would be expected to be widely reported by credible media websites. However, Dubawa did not find the report on any major website.

The Ministry of Information has denied reports of schools resuming next month.

“The ministry will like to state categorically that aside from final-year students who are in school, the public should disregard reports going round that all other students would go to school in September,” the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education (MoE), Mr Benjamin K. Gyasi, said.

Also, the Ghana Education Service (GES), an agency under the Ministry which superintends over all basic and pre-tertiary affairs, said it has not issued any statement to that effect.   

Cassandra Twum Ampofo, the Public Relations Officer of Ghana Education Service (GES), told Dubawa that the GES does not have any specific date yet as to when schools will reopen. 

“For school reopening, we have not issued any statement out there. We don’t have any specific date as to when schools will reopen,” she said. 

Our further checks showed that the publication was first made by Hardtruthgh.com. 

After browsing through the website, we found that it had been stated at its “about us” section at the bottom of the home page that they describe themselves as “Ghana’s leading Satire and Parody portal.”

The publication contains no element of parody or satire but clear falsehood deliberately created to misinform the public. 

We, therefore, find the claim to be false.

The journalist produced this fact-check under the auspices of the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship partnership with Citinewsroom.com to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and to enhance media literacy in the country.  

A Facebook account claims that WAEC and GES have provided a system to upgrade bad WAEC results to good ones. 

The Head of Public Affairs for WAEC Accra has stated that WAEC has no system or consultants that help students to upgrade their results from bad to good, and that such accounts are fraudulent.

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The President’s directives for final junior high school students and senior high school students to sit for the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) respectively were issued last month.

Even before this, there has been a mushroom of accounts online purporting to be consultants and officers from WAEC hired to help students of any WAEC examination with bad results upgrade to better results. 

An example is the Facebook account ‘WAEC Consultant’ which has a chain of posts claiming that WAEC and Ghana Education Service (GES) have provided a new way for students to upgrade their results online, of which the page ‘WAEC Consultant’ is a WAEC agent to facilitate such process.

The posts, which include a number to be reached on, further promises provision of new certification and the possibility of purchasing new grades. 

Verification

Dubawa contacted the Head of Public Affairs of WAEC Accra, Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, who stated that WAEC has no system of upgrading results, and such Facebook accounts or online websites are fraudsters. 

“I wish to state emphatically that the Ghana Office of the West African Examinations Council does not have any consultants online that helps students upgrade results. The Council DOES NOT UPGRADE RESULTS. These are the activities of fraudsters and the Council has on several occasions put out adverts/notifications alerting the public about their activities”, Agnes Teye- Cudjoe stated.

Similarly, Dubawa contacted the WAEC Accra office and they notified that the only official WAEC Ghana Facebook page is @waecghanainfo.

Conclusion

The claim that WAEC and GES have provided a system for WAEC students to upgrade their results is false. The Head of Public Affairs for WAEC Accra, Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, has debunked such claims, stating that any Facebook page or online website purporting to be a WAEC consultant helping WAEC students upgrade results is fraudulent. 

A Houston-based doctor, Dr Stella Immanuel, in a viral video, announced wonder drugs for COVID-19

The claims that Hydroxychloroquine, Zithromax and Zinc are effective against the novel coronavirus are not accurate. At the moment, there is not yet an established cure for COVID-19.

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SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is arguably the headline for 2020. The novel virus, which is responsible for the disease COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), has become the world’s biggest nightmare now responsible for 655,300 deaths from over 16 million infected cases recorded worldwide. The novel coronavirus, since it made its debut in China in December last year,  has set scientists working and researching for a cure and a vaccine.

Out of the blue, on Monday, July 27th, the social media space welcomed a widely circulated video, showing a group of doctors led by Doctor Stella Immanuel, where she identified herself as a primary health care physician in Houston, Texas. This video bears news of an alleged cure for the new coronavirus. Dr Stella, while speaking in the video, revealed that she had treated over 350 COVID-19 patients with Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), Zithromax and Zinc.  After emphasizing the potency of these drugs, she added that  “there is no need to wear a mask.” The video has garnered over 28 thousand views and 235 comments on Eben_rocks’ Instagram account and has featured on other social media platforms.

Before it got on Eben_rocks, the video originated from Breibart, a rabidly right-wing, pro-Trump platform, at a press conference in Washington, D.C. The event was hosted by the Tea Party Patriots on July 27th. Credible platforms have said the original video amassed millions of views and even Donald Trump retweeted it.

Given recurring, dissident, voices ranged against the mainstream medical consensus on Hydroxychloroquine since President Trump first announced its efficacy as a cure for coronavirus, Dubawa opted for additional research on the new claim by Dr. Immanuel. This is regardless of Dubawa’s previous review of a plethora of similar falsehoods regarding an imminent medicine or remedy. 

Verification

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)

The buzz around hydroxychloroquine providing relief against the novel virus surfaced after a live TV endorsement of the anti-malarial by President Donald J Trump. Mr. Trump claimed he was using the drug against the virus, and while people have rushed to get the medications for treatments, studies and reports show it to be an ineffective remedy. Worse still, some research confirmed that in some cases, the drug resulted in casualties. USA Today, for instance, in its Fact Check, said it had found there is no evidence that the drug is effective against the virus.

What are Health Authorities saying?

The World Health Organization’s provision regarding many claims of finding a cure for COVID-19 has not changed. The body has said there is no cure yet for the virus, although researchers across the world are still working to develop a therapeutic or vaccine for the virus. The health organization who has initially recommended hydroxychloroquine for clinical trials has now halted further use. 

While the National Institute of Health was cited in the trending video, the agency has stopped the use of hydroxychloroquine in clinical trials. It says, “Study shows treatment does no harm but provides no benefit.”  

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also “cautioned against the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems.”

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has reacted to the trending video, pleading with Nigerians to take caution against the inferences in the video. The centre designed a card to warn people against self-medication and encourages the use of masks.

Additionally, the Guild of Medical Directors has also responded to the video. It issued an urgent press release which addresses the issue. The Press release stated that “people must understand that this is not scientific evidence and just her (Dr Stella) own personal, unsubstantiated claims.”  The Guild also said, “This disease is definitely not a joke, and we strongly condemn the politicization of the disease and the treatments currently being used to fight the pandemic. As at today, the whole world is still actively looking for effective treatment and of course, a vaccine. Until then, everyone has a responsibility to remain safe and protect one another through the ways proven to help.”

Based on the positions of the various health authorities, it is clear that Dr. Stella Immanuel and her team are alone on the new claim about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a cure for Covid-19. 

Who is Doctor Stella Immanuel? 

Dr. Stella Immanuel is a  medical doctor currently practicing in the United States with more than 30 years of diverse experiences, especially in EMERGENCY MEDICINE. She is also a pastor. Her Facebook profile defines her as a physician, author, speaker, entrepreneur, deliverance minister, “God’s battle axe and weapon of war.” She was one of the doctors who spoke at the conference where the video was shot and in which she was portrayed as the speaker. 

Here’s why you should disregard her claims.

According to this report, Dr. Stella has a history of publishing bizarre claims. She once claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches. Besides that, while she has publicly advised against the use of nose masks, she has been caught wearing one while preaching in her church. 

Further, she referred to a 2005 research that made her start using HCQ for her COVID patients – citing a research done under the National Institute of Health that proves HCQ’s efficacy against COVID-19.

Although she was not specific about the study, Dubawa found this research. The study identified “chloroquine” not hydroxychloroquine as an inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread. While that has been said, it is worthy of note that the disease-causing the current pandemic is not SARS but SARS-COV-2. And although SARS may have similar characteristics with SARS-COV-2, it is new and different. Hence, a 2005 research may not be accurate in the context of COVID-19. Moreover, the NIH has also paused the clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care.” Hence, it stands to reason that some of her patients may be in this category.

Meanwhile, when Facebook and Twitter took down the video in question. The doctor reacted to this, as seen in the screenshot below. 

Conclusion

Health authorities have responded to various claims regarding Hydroxychloroquine, stating that the drug is not effective against the new coronavirus. As it is, there is no cure for the new coronavirus yet. Therefore, the claims made in the viral video are far from accurate.

A viral WhatsApp message claims the government is giving out free GHS400 relief funds to each citizen. 

The claim has been debunked by the Information Ministry. Additionally, neither the Finance Minister nor the President has mentioned this initiative in their addresses to the nation. 

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Not long after the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the 2020 mid-year budget review to parliament, a message was circulating on Ghanaian Whatsapp platforms claiming that the government of Ghana has approved, and has started paying out free GHS 400 relief funds to each citizen. 

The message includes a link for people to access the purported funds.

Verification

Dubawa noted some inconsistencies in the message. 

Firstly, the message which claims that each citizen will be given GHS 400 for free, however, states that the claim is limited, thereby requiring readers to access the link instantly.

Also, Dubawa noted that for a relief fund purported to be an initiative from the Ghana government to its citizens, it uses the Nigerian coat of arms as the logo. 

Moreso, on Thursday 23 July 2020, when Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance presented the 2020 mid-year fiscal policy review to parliament, there was no allocation of 400 Ghana cedis as a relief fund to each Ghanaian citizen mentioned in the budget review.

Also, the President of Ghana, Nana Akuffo-Addo on Sunday 26 July 2020 updated Ghanaian citizens on measures taken by the government to combat the spread of coronavirus.

The President did not mention any such initiative by the government to give citizens GHS 400 as a relief fund in his address to the nation.

Rather, the free incentive to all Ghanaian citizens mentioned by both the Finance Minister and the President to be accessed by Ghanaians is the free supply of water for the next three months, which is intended to be reviewed at the end of the period. 

Additionally, below is a list of  the President’s highlights during his address, in relation to funds, schemes, and incentives for Ghanaians:

1. Coronavirus Alleviation Programme -an amount of 600 million Ghana cedis is being provided to the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme to support micro, small and medium scale enterprises. 
2. Health Workers Incentive Packages – an extension of these incentives for the months of July, August, and September.
3. Free electricity supply to lifeline tariff customers until the end of the year. 
4. Communication Service Tax-  a reduction from 9 per cent to 5 per cent, from September 2020.
5. National Unemployment Insurance Scheme – an initiative awaiting approval from Parliament which will be established to provide temporary income support to workers who have lost their jobs.
6. CAP Business Support Scheme- an increment in government funding with an additional one hundred and fifty million cedis (GH¢150 million), for more beneficiaries to access.
7. Guarantee Scheme – Two billion cedis (GH¢2 billion) will be provided to enable businesses access credit at more affordable rates for the survival and retention of their businesses.

Dubawa further contacted the Deputy Information Minister, Pius Hadzide, concerning the claim, who stated that it is false.

“It is false. The Government is offering relief through the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) but it is way more than that,” Pius Hadzide said.

Conclusion

The claim that the government of Ghana is giving free 400 Ghana cedis to each citizen as a relief fund is false. The message has errors and contradictions in wording and is put on a Nigerian coat of arms and logo, instead of Ghana’s, the owner of the purported initiative. This proves the claim’s lack of authenticity. 

Furthermore, neither the President nor the Finance Minister who have both addressed the nation over the last few days, have mentioned such an initiative by the government. The office of the Ministry of Information has also confirmed the claim to be false.

The headline of a news article claims ‘nobody truly recovers from COVID-19’

COVID-19 patients recover from the virus but some may suffer some health complications. That aside, the headline of the news story is misleading as the source cited was misrepresented and did not state that.

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COVID-19 has given health practitioners new experiences in their field of work. An example of such experience with COVID-19 is one recounted in a tweet by a nurse as the worst disease she has ever worked with, as she further stated some effects of the virus on a recovered patient. The tweet has also been shared on Facebook and has received several interactions.

A news story which reported on the nurse’s statements on the effects of the virus has a headline claiming that “Nobody truly recovers from COVID-19”, attributing the said claim to the nurse.

Verification

In the tweet by the Twitter user Cherie Antoinette that the media organisation referenced, the nurse did not state that nobody truly recovers from COVID-19. What she did was to list a number of complications she claimed that one may suffer from the virus even after recovery, which she said most people are not privy to. 

“COVID 19 is the worst disease process I’ve ever worked with in my eight years as an ICU nurse. When they say “recovered” they don’t tell you that that means you may need a lung transplant. Or that you may come back after d/c (discharge) with a massive heart attack or stroke bc (because) COVID makes  your blood thick as hell. Or that you may have to be on oxygen for the rest of your life. COVID is designed to kill. It is a highly intelligent virus and it attacks everything. We will run out of resources if we don’t continue to flatten the  curve. I’m exhausted,” she tweeted.

More so, Dubawa reached out to Cherie Antoinette, who is a nurse at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Northside Atlanta and Grady Memorial Hospitals, and received an in-depth narration of the nurse’s experience with the readmission of a previous mild case of a COVID-19 patient – an experience she acknowledged was the cause of her tweet stemming from exhaustion and frustration. 

She recounted to Dubawa her experience with a mild COVID-19 patient who was readmitted with graver complications. The patient was readmitted with a heart attack and cardiogenic shock. Additionally, his foot was completely black and blue from a newly developed clot which she said were complications from COVID-19. 

“The unknown nature of the inflammatory process and the severity of the case is just uncertain. We must take all precautions to prevent infection. We can not get relaxed or complacent in our social distancing and hand-washing. Donning a mask is crucial. A once thought singular infection is proving to be a more sinister chronic process. There is just so much we don’t know about this virus or the long-term implications. That warrants great caution’’, Cherie stated.

We also interviewed a Ghanaian doctor with Tantra Community Clinic, Dr Senyo Misroame, who threw light on the nurse’s tweet. 

“She is not wrong in saying that. What she means to say is that the patient could have some complications even after recovering from the virus. Because you can recover from COVID-19 but later have some complications, which does not affect the patient’s recovery status. There is a difference, ” Dr Misroame said. 

He further explained that to recover from the virus means the patient does not show signs and symptoms of the virus, and there is also evidence of laboratory tests proving that the patient does not have the virus anymore, which confirms such patients as negative.

“When we use recovery in the strictest medical sense, it means there is not an active viral presence of COVID-19 in you anymore,” he said.

“However, we have found that there are some that could have immediate, medium or long-term complications after their recovery, such as stroke, their blood vessels getting thinner, respiratory problems, long term brain damage, just as the nurse indicated. We are still learning,” Dr Misroame added. 

Dr Misroame also clarified that if anyone is said not to have recovered, they are the patients who are described to have a case of Chronic COVID-19 which usually lasts beyond 6 weeks and even 6 months of testing positive. However, people do recover from COVID-19 although it is possible that some who do, may develop some complications either early or late.

Additionally, medical research has indicated complications associated with COVID-19 affecting the organs of patients long-term. For example, a study published by the American Heart Association showed that recovered COVID-19 patients could be affected with chronic cardiac complications due to persistent inflammation caused by the virus. 

Another study published by the Radiological Society of North America found that 66 out of 70 Wuhan COVID-19 discharged patients had lung abnormalities from their last CT scan results over a month after their discharges from the hospital. 

In view of this, a public health study published by the US National Institute of Health conducted on the post-recovery status of COVID-19 patients made some recommendations. The study showed possible complications some recovered patients may have, as a result of a multi-organ damage on the brain, heart, lungs, kidney, eyes and digestive tract, caused by the virus, and recommended the need to follow-up on recovered patients to have a  more comprehensive view of the virus and allow for timely medical interventions. 

“People who have recovered from COVID-19 should be more careful in maintaining and monitoring their health status. They have to be in regular monitoring for their future complications that may occur after their recovery. Hence, the recovered patients are recommended to complete a master health check-up to scout for risks for other diseases”, the study recommended.

Conclusion

The headline of the news report that nobody truly recovers from COVID-19 is misleading. The original post by the nurse on Twitter, which was referenced by the media organisation, only listed a number of complications that could be associated with the virus even after recovery. 

A Ghanaian medical doctor further explained the nurse’s statements by stating that recovering from COVID-19 is different from having complications from COVID-19. By explaining recovery as no longer having an active presence of the virus, the doctor stated that there are people who recover from the virus with no complications, while others also recover from the virus but could derive some early or late complications, which does not affect their COVID-19 recovery status in any way.

PS: This article has been updated to include a response by Cherie Antoinette, the Twitter user whose tweet was the basis of the claim.

Viral social media posts claim George Andah displayed an action gun at a registration centre in Awutu Senya Constituency to scare his opponents.

The photograph was taken of Andah about two years ago when he was acting as a musketeer at a traditional ceremony and is not related to any recent event.

Full text

While investigations into the incident that led to a recent firing of a gun at a registration centre by Hawa Koomson, Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East Constituency is on-going, a  photo has surfaced Ghanaian online media purporting that George Andah, a Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya West Constituency, has also displayed a gun at a registration centre in his constituency, to scare his opponents.

The Facebook post by Ghana News Press, which is accompanied by a photo of Mr Andah pointing a gun to the sky reads;

Deputy Minister of Information, Mr George Andah displaying a pump action Gun at a Registration Centre in the Awutu Senya West Constituency. This according to residents, was done to scare his opponents

Same day, Minister for Special Development Initiatives, Hawa Koomson stormed some registration centres in her constituency with thugs and fired warning shots to stop the registration process.

The same claims have been published by other online news portals such as Ghanaxtra.com, Ghanashowbiz, Ghananews.com, MyAfricaToday.com, and MyNewsGhana.com.

Verification

Our independent checks led us to video evidence of when the actual incident happened, from which the misleading photo was retrieved. In the 48-second video, Mr Andah is seen wearing the exact clothes from the alleged photo and firing shots during a ceremony.

It shows the photograph is unrelated to any recent happenings in the country. 

Dubawa further contacted George Andah to confirm the actions being attributed to him. He confirmed the news was fake by sending Dubawa a narration of the context of the photo detailed in a press statement.

In the press statement, Mr Andah explained that the photo was taken two years ago at Akyem Asuom in the Eastern Region, during the enstoolment of Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications, as a Development Queen. 

“In traditional events, such as durbars and festivals, commemorative gunshots are fired into the air by some selected participants, which I, Nenyi George Andah, as one of the two deputies to Hon Ursula Owusu Ekuful, was given the privilege as a traditional musketeer at the ceremony, a role I proudly and honourably discharged”, Mr Andah stated.

 

Furthermore, Mr Andah sent to Dubawa video evidence, the same video we were led to in our independent checks, which showed him with the gun at a ceremony and not a registration centre.

Conclusion

The news purporting that Hon George Andah was captured displaying a pump action gun at a Registration Centre in the Awutu Senya West Constituency to scare his opponents is false. A video available on Facebook shows the photo is unrelated to recent events but was taken at the enstoolment of Hon Ursula Owusu as a development queen in Akyem Asuom about two years ago. The MP has also debunked such claims in a press statement.