The report that the Ghana Police Service has begun analyzing videos of prophecies made on the night of 31st December, 2021 to see if any of them was communicated in breach of the laws of the country is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that the Ghana Police Service says it has begun analyzing videos of prophecies made on the night of 31st December, 2021 to see if any of them was communicated in breach of the laws of the country.
According to the police in a statement released on Thursday, January 6, “anybody found culpable will be put before the court.”
The police ahead of 2021 Watchnight and New Year church services cautioned against the communication of prophecies that had the potential to cause fear and alarm to the public or endanger lives.
While commending the public and religious groups in particular for their support and understanding, the police say notices of multiple video footages have come to their attention regarding the communication of prophecies.
“We would like to caution that the law on publication of information, including prophecies that have the tendency to cause fear and panic or put people’s lives in danger, is not limited to 31st December only, but should be adhered to on a daily basis.
“We wish to reiterate that the law and the Police are not against religious practices or the performance of religious doctrines and beliefs such as prophecies. However, if such information is communicated publicly and undermine the laws of the state, the relevant laws and sanctions will be applied”, said the statement signed by Supt. Alexander Kwaku Obeng, Director, Public Affairs.
The Ghanaian Times says that a scientist with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr Eric Ashalley, has invented a biosensing device that detects and categorises various bacteria and viruses, including SARS COV-2 (COVID-19 virus).
The United States Patent Office has subsequently awarded the nanoscience and technology research scientist, who works with the Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) of CSIR, a patent, granting him ownership of the device.
Currently, CSIR is looking at channels to locally manufacture this device to augment the government’s effort in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic since the accuracy of the device to detect the COVID-19 virus is 99.87 per cent.
The patent document issued by the Patent Office in December last year has been published online with additional details published in the prestigious Photonics Research Journal.
Shedding light on his invention in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, Dr Ashalley said the device detects and categorises different types of bacteria and viruses using light-matter interaction.
Unlike the conventional bacteria and virus testing kits currently in existence, he said the device is reusable under a guided environment with display, and is capable of distinguishing between the various Covid variants towards effective and efficient diagnosis.
“The invention of this device brings testing and diagnosis to the doorstep of the citizenry. It is a portable device that is easily useable and it is compatible with smart phones and wearables,” he said.
For speed, Dr Ashalley said it uses light for processing so results can be achieved within an ultrafast period, while for size, the main components of the device are at the nanoscale, making it very portable.
He explained that the design and realisation of this device made use of advanced artificial intelligence-based nanophotonic concepts, bridging the fields of computer science and nanotechnology.
The newspaper reports that the Ghana has recorded 876 more cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID -19), shooting up the country’s case count to 148,079 as at last Saturday.
According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) website monitored by the Ghanaian Times yesterday, a total of 133,190 have recovered from the disease.
Meanwhile, four more persons have died increasing the death toll from 1,309 as at last Friday to 1,313, with 45 people in severe conditions with eight others in critical condition.
The GHS has indicated on its website that the country currently has 13,576 active cases.
Routine surveillance conducted indicated that 55,302 people tested positive out of 466,224 total number of tests conducted while 87,154 people tested positive through enhanced contact tracing out of 953,081 total tests done.
International travellers (KIA) tests showed that 5,632 people tested positive out of 722,699 tests conducted.
The Service, therefore, said it had so far conducted 2,142, 004 tests since the outbreak of the disease in March 2020 with a positivity rate of 6.9 per cent.
On the regional case count, Greater Accra leads with 82,380 confirmed cases, followed by Ashanti with 21,813 cases.
Western has 7,940 confirmed cases, while Eastern has 6,710 cases.
The Service also said that Volta had 5,720 confirmed cases while Central had 5,258 cases.
The Ghanaian Times also says that member of the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists (GACRA) yesterday called off their strike, following an engagement with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders.
Public Relations Officer, Seth McAndoh, who confirmed this to the Ghanaian Timessaid members were to resume work with immediate effect per outcomes of the meeting.
“The Ministry has promised to address our concerns so we are going back to work immediately and hope that whatever agreement we had would be acted upon,” he said.
The GACRA on Saturday, January 1,declared a nationwide strike mainly over claims of expiry of their operating licences due to their withdrawal of affiliation to the Medical and Dental Council (MDC) in December last year.
The group also raised issues bordering on their conditions of service, restriction of some anaesthesia procedures to tertiary hospitals and change in curriculum of speciality by the MDC in some training institutions.
The strike action led to a halt in booked surgical cases in most public health facilities at the regional and district levels with pressure mounting on the main tertiary hospitals where few doctor anaesthetists operated.
Mr McAndoh in the interview said although members had resumed work, their renewal of licences was still pending.
“This is one issue we hope the Ministry and its stakeholders address in the soonest possible time as part of the roadmap we agreed on.
We won’t hesitate to lay down our tools again if authorities do not ensure that the roadmap developed is followed strictly,” he stated.
GIK/APA