The world is presently fighting an unseen enemy that has caused changes to normal ways of life and created significant discomfort across board. Recognized by common symptoms such as dry cough, fever and tiredness, Covid-19, an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus also presents advanced symptoms including difficulty in breathing, chest pain or pressure, and loss of speech or movement.
Covid-19 Case counts and Precautions
Covid-19 is only barely five months old but data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre website shows that by May 9, 2020 the virus has affected over 4 million people worldwide killing almost 280,000. Ghana has recorded over 4200 cases with 22 deaths. There is no cure yet for it. While efforts are being made to develop a vaccine for the virus, regular hand washing with soap under running water and the use of alcohol based hand rubs (besides maintaining a social distance of at least 2 metres, the use of nose masks as well as avoiding touching the eyes, nose and mouth) remain key in limiting the spread of the corona virus.
The Magic of Hand Sanitizers
The mad rush that greeted the initial announcement about the efficacy of sanitizers led to some shops and malls inflating the prices of the product to rake in some unholy profit off the backs of others. The sudden interest contrasted the fact that sanitizers had never been favourable candidates on the shopping lists of the average Ghanaian. Apart from a few ladies displaying some stylishly on their handbags, the rest of the Ghanaian population cared very little about them. Young men my age and orientation didn’t buy or use them often. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I bought one.
Compounding the woes of the thingy further is its positioning and display in shops. Tiny little bottles containing what is now known to possess unlimited power to knockdown viruses, lying harmlessly on lonely shelves in supermarkets didn’t catch the eyes of shoppers in the same way they did on the counter by the till. Whatever the case was, not many people bothered anyway.
One warm February afternoon, I visited my usual supermarket to pick up a few items. While at the till, small adorable bottles containing the magic potion caught my attention. I added two to my cart, smiling. Outside, at the car pack, I handed one to the driver while the other remained in my pack of groceries.
A month or so later when I returned to the same mall to pick a few more, they were no more. The conspicuous absence of the thingy was as shocking as it was strange. Many shops subsequently inflated prices of sanitizers. The price of a small 50ml bottle jumped from a cool, submissive GHS5 to an abrasive middle-aged GHS15 whilst its 500ml elder sibling pitched himself as a self-important Ghanaian at GHS150. Something must definitely kill a man.
Sanitizers thus moved ranks from a relatively unknown product to fame as an army general in the Covid-19 warfare. Soon, people were acquiring them in gallons. As prices skyplused and shop owners and their gatekeepers celebrated daily sales smacking their lips at glasses raised to the sky with happy pizzas staring them beneath, poor first-time users mourned the loss of their lives’ earnings.
Local Production of Sanitizers
The creative and industrious Ghanaian spirit rose to the challenge immediately and soon, news emerged announcing the start of local production and distribution of the liquid. Now the market is saturated with various brands of Ghana made hand sanitizers from the fairly thick ones to moderately watery types containing at least 70% alcohol at reasonable prices.