The National Media Commission (NMC) has cautioned media practitioners against making jokes with the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)in their bid to reduce public anxiety and provide hope in the moment of disquiet.

The NMC explained that while humour may have its place in reducing anxieties in moments of national stress, it also carried the risk of minimising the sense of urgency, possibly leading to complacency in public response.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mr George Sarpong, the Executive Secretary of the NMC and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra

The NMC, however, noted that since the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the President’s proactive measures to protect Ghana, the media had demonstrated commendable support for the national cause and justified why the Constitution (1992) gave the media a pride of place.

It, therefore, urged practitioners to bear in mind that balance still remained their greatest professional virtue, saying, the best way to achieve that was to rely on official sources for accurate information about the global pandemic.

Ghana recorded its first two cases of the disease on Thursday, March 12, and has since recorded a total of 11.

Information sourced on worldometer.infos.org indicates that as of 1700 hours GMT, 231,362 cases have been recorded in 177 countries and territories with 9,391 deaths.

There are, however, 86,261 cases of recovery.