Ghana President, Nana Akufo-Addo has lifted the restrictions of its biggest cities after a 21-day lockdown, this he believes has bought the government enough time to improve its preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic.
Residents of the capital, Accra, and major centers will be allowed to return to work from Monday, 20th April, even though other restrictions such as school closures and a ban on sport and religious meetings remain in place, according to Akufo-Addo in a Sunday televised address.
During the three weeks lockdown, Ghana conducted more than 68,000 tests and drew-up plans to establish testing centers in all of its 16 regions, Akufo-Addo said.
Local factories commenced the production of protective equipment while drone services are used to speed-up the transportation of tests, he said.
Confirmed cases reached 1,042 with nine deaths, while the results of 18,000 testing samples remain outstanding.
“Lifting these restrictions doesn’t mean we are letting our guard down,” said Nana Akufo-Addo. “We’ll tailor our solution to our unique social economic and cultural condition. There’s no one-size fits all approach.”
The pandemic has brought three years of economic expansion of 6% or more to a sudden halt in the nation of 30 million people, with the finance ministry forecasting growth of 1.5%, the slowest in 37 years. The International Monetary Fund last week disbursed $1 billion to Ghana to fight the outbreak and help mitigate economic losses.
In addition, the Ghana Police Service has stated that though the road blocks in Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi will be removed, officers will still be policing public gatherings and social distancing.
Hello wonderful family, a few hours from now you will see the road blocks in Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa pulled down. Security personnel will however continue to police Ghana’s borders. We will police public gathering and social distancing as well.
Congratulations to all of us. Please, let all our actions be guided be our resolve to stop the spread of covid-19 in Ghana.
