The Lebanese Community has received a commendation for its complementary efforts to Ghana’s fight against the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) disease.

The community, through its humanitarian outreach programme, had been instrumental in the education to create awareness on the pandemic amongst the citizenry, while also feeding the needy and underprivileged in the society.

“We need to all get involved in the campaign to contain and manage the pandemic, which had become an albatross hanging on the neck of mankind,” Nana Serwaa Bonsu, the Queen of Kayera near Offisno in the Ashanti Region, advised.

As at Saturday, May 16, Ghana had recorded 5,638 confirmed cases, with 1,460 recoveries and 28 deaths, according to the latest report posted on the Ghana Health Service’s COVID-19 portal.

The count of cases per Region put the Greater Accra on top with 4,248 confirmed cases, Ashanti Region recording 798 cases, and Central and Eastern Regions recording 210 and 99 cases, respectively.

Nana Serwaa Bonsu, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, on the sideline of a presentation of food items to the needy in her community, called for a shared responsibility to effectively manage the deadly pandemic.

The items were donated by the Lebanese Community in the Ashanti Region to be distributed to the poor at Kayera, whose plight had been worsened since the outbreak of the pandemic.

In all, fifty (50) boxes containing assorted food items, including canned fish, rice, cooking oil, variety of fruit juice and energy drinks, spaghetti and bottled water, were donated to the beneficiaries.

The Queen called on other humanitarian organizations to emulate the Lebanese example, saying those kind gestures by the latter would help to further deepen bi-lateral relations between Ghana and Lebanon for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

Mr. Haidab Hany, Spokesperson of the Lebanese Community in the Region, asked the people to observe strict adherence to the health protocols instituted to contain the pandemic.

“We have no other option than to wear our nose masks regularly, wash our hands thoroughly under running water, apply hand sanitizers where and when necessary and also observe social distancing at all times,” he stated.

Mr. Ahmed Naaman, an Executive Member of the Lebanese Community, and former Regional Chairman of the Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF), said COVID-19 was real.

Therefore, it behoves the people to take precaution in whatever they did to help minimize community spread.