Commercial buses have decided to reduce the number of passengers they carry per roll, by one from tomorrow, Thursday, 26 March as part of efforts to ensure social distancing in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.
This means buses that carry three on normal days will now carry two per roll while those who take four per roll will do three.
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union is, however, calling on the government to reduce fuel prices for commercial drivers to enable them continue with the new policy until normal times return.
Since Ghana recorded cases of the pandemic, there have been calls for sweeping reforms in various sectors of the country’s economy.
Prominent among the calls is the reduction of the number of passengers that commercial buses (trotro) carry per roll in order to observe the social distancing policy in public vehicles.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, thus, on Tuesday, 24 March 2020, met transport operators and owners to find ways by which they can modify the existing public transport policy.
Speaking to Class News, the Industrial Relations Officer of the Greater Accra branch of the GPRTU, Mr Abass Ibrahim Moro, said the number of passengers can be reduced if the government will put in place measures to assist drivers and transport owners.
He said: “We are worried about the coronavirus and the way we load our vehicles – shoulder-by-shoulder – and we’ve come out with a suggestion that the government should see what it can do [to help us].
“On our own, we’ve asked our drivers to effective from tomorrow [Thursday, 26 March], the three sitting capacity should be reduced to two while the four sitting capacity should be reduced to three.”
Mr Abass, however, explained that if this is done without any compensation from the government, the drivers will stop working and there will be no cars available on the streets to transport Ghanaians.
“So, we are saying the government should see if there could be a coupon so that the fuel could be reduced so that we can meet the working demands,” he added.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has turned 76 today, becoming the first Ghanaian to hit that age while in office.
Akufo-Addo became president after winning the 2016 presidential polls. He defeated then incumbent president John Mahama, who is staging a comeback.
He had previously failed on two attempts to become president of Ghana.
Many Ghanaians have taken to Twitter to wish the president a happy birthday.
As coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to sweep through the world, daily reports show that more men are dying from the killer virus than women.
A research published by China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that the death rate among men is 2.8% compared with 1.7% for women and the research suggests the trend will continue despite men and women being infected at similar rates.
According to Sabra Klein, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the pattern—men faring worse than women—is consistent with other viral respiratory infections. “Women fight them off better,” she said.
Officials noticed this gender difference during the SARS and MERS outbreaks as well, according to Caryn Rabin. For instance, research found that in 2003 more women were infected by SARS in Hong Kong, but men died at rates 50% higher than women. And during the MERS outbreak, 32% of men died of the infection compared with 25.8% of women, Caryn Rabin reports
Why is the virus killing more men than women?
Below are few reasons highlighted by some experts about why more men die from the killer virus than women.
Women have a heightened immune response
Research on previous outbreaks shows that women have stronger immune responses to coronavirus.
According to Janine Clayton, director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at NIH, “There’s something about the immune system in females that is more exuberant,” but researchers have yet to figure out what that is.
Some researchers think the higher level of estrogen, which contributes to immunity, and the fact that women have two X chromosomes, which carry immune-related genes, could factor into women’s heightened immune response.
For instance, in one experiment, researchers exposed mice to SARS and found male mice were more susceptible to the infection and were slower to clear the virus. They also died at higher rates and experienced more lung damage, according to Stanley Perlman, senior author of the study and a professor of microbiology at the University of Iowa.
However, when the researchers blocked estrogen in the female mice and removed their ovaries, they were more likely to die from the virus. Blocking testosterone in the male mice on the other hand had no effect on the death rate.
Men and women have different health behaviors, conditions
Patients’ existing health conditions and health behaviors can make them more susceptible to the virus, and increase their risk of death, Caryn Rabin reports.
When it comes to health behaviors, Caryn Rabin writes, China has the largest population of smokers in the world at 316 million people, but while more than 50% of Chinese men smoke, only about 2% of Chinese women partake in the behavior.
Chinese men also have higher rates of high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than women, all of which can increase the risk of complications and death from a coronavirus infection, Caryn Rabin reports.
According to a few unpublished Chinese studies, patients with delayed coronavirus diagnosis or who had pneumonia at the time of their diagnosis have an increased risk of death. And one study suggests men may be waiting to seek care, as they were more likely than women to present at hospitals with the disease at a more advanced stage.
Posted By Kulme Star
+233554188420/0554461400
A piece of odd news which we are yet to substantiate has emerged from Pakistan revealing how a man recovered from Covid-19 only to be infected with the deadly disease again after throwing a party attended by 100 of his friends.
Ostensibly, the man threw the party to celebrate his victory from the jaws of death but sadly he covid-19 captured him again for being careless. We gathered that some of his friends who have the virus started coughing and sneezing at the at the party which made him contract the disease.
Meanwhile, officials in Pakistan are investigating the matter to know how the man threw a party despite the global economic slowdown.
Medikal – Boss Ft Meek Mill , Rick Ross (Official Video ) .
Sarkodie – Odo Ft. Ebony (Prod. By Nova)
Kuami Eugene – Ohemaa Ft. KiDi (Prod. By M.O.G Beatz)
Strongman – Don’t Try (Medikal Diss) (Prod. By Tubhanimuzik)
Dj Baby Stone & Fameye – MixTape (2019)
A Lady Goes Naked In Kulme Star “Mabo Video Shoot”
Becca – Driving License ft. Shatta Wale
Kwesi Arthur – Thoughts from King Arthur 4 (NewYork State Of Mind)
