Accra, Ghana. 29 April 2020/ – Herbert Mensah, President and Board Chairman of Ghana Rugby, urged the Ghana Rugby Family to wear masks as a protective measure against the new Coronavirus, COVID-19.
The message from Mensah was made by means of a video and supported with a series of caricature images of himself wearing a face mask with different “Stay Safe” messages on it.
“Even though the lockdown in Ghana has been lifted the virus has not been locked down yet. Our President, HE Nana Akufo-Addo, urged Ghana to stay on high alert and to avoid public or social gatherings and to maintain another protective measure such as wearing face masks. My message to our Rugby Family endorses the President’s call. It is the wise and right thing to do in order to win this war,” Mensah said.
The series of messages emphasise the need to wear a mask as they were delivered on a face mask worn by Mensah in the caricature.
Other messages that will be rolled out include the call to not panic, to stay safe, to keep social distances, to avoid gatherings, to wash hands and to cover coughs.
On 29 April Ghana has recorded only 1,671 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 16 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
According to Mensah, he has not received any reports of any Ghana Rugby player or official that has contracted the virus, and he is very relieved about that.
“We have embarked on a ‘Stay Safe’ campaign when the menace hit the world and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. All rugby events and activities have been suspended and our call to players is to firstly stay safe and secondly to keep up a personal strength and conditioning programme to prepare for the day when we can again do what we love – play rugby!”, Mensah said.
In his message, Mensah said also said that all sports around the globe have been affected negatively and that one can only exercise patience and be vigilant to ensure personal and safety that will also ensure the safety of others.
Ghana Rugby has also issued regular COVID-19 policy and strategy guidelines and Mensah said that it is clear that a wait-and-see approach would be the sensible approach.
Rugby has been suspended on a global basis and Ghana Rugby’s participation in the Rugby Africa Cup has been affected at this stage. Ghana would have played Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe on 20 June 2020 and Tunisia in Ghana on 4 July 2020. The Rugby Africa Cup has been suspended till further notice from the governing bodies, World Rugby and Rugby Africa.
