COVID-19: Ghana lifts three-week lockdown

Three weeks after Ghana imposed a lockdown in the country as a part of efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, the restriction on movement has been lifted.

Nana Akufo-Addo, president of Ghana, announced the lifting of the restrictions in a broadcast on Sunday night while giving an update on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

He, however, said other measures such as social distancing and the ban on large gatherings remain in place.

“In view of our ability to undertake aggressive contact of infected persons, the enhancement of our capacity to test, the expansion in the numbers of our treatment and isolation centres, our better understanding of the dynamism of the virus, the ramping up our domestic capacity to produce our own personal protective equipment, sanitisers and medicines, the modest successes chalked at containing the spread of the virus in Accra and Kumasi, and the severe impact of the poor and vulnerable, I have taken the decision to life the three-week-old restriction on movements in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and Kasoa, and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and the contiguous districts, with effect from 1am on Monday, 20th April,” he said.

“I must make it clear, at the outset, that that lifting these restrictions does not mean we are letting our guard down. All other measures are still firmly in place. For the avoidance of doubt, the earlier measures announced in Wednesday, 15th March, which have been extended, are still very much in force, and have not been relaxed.

“I am demanding even greater adherence to these measures. In here, I am referring to the suspension of all public gatherings, including conferences, workshops, funerals, parties, nightclubs, drinking spots, beaches, festivals, political rallies, religious festivities and sporting events.”

According to the president, a total of 86,000 contacts have been traced, and 68,591 persons tested, with 1,042 persons confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Out of the confirmed COVID-19 cases, 99 persons have been discharged, while others who have been isolated are currently responding to treatment at their homes or treatment facilities.

The country has also introduced the use of drones to improve testing capacity.

“We have also scaled up the domestic production of personal protective equipment, and our healthcare facilities, so far, have taken delivery of 14,550 scrubs, 11,900 gowns, 19,980 head covers, 263,281 nose masks, 13,002 N-95 nose masks. 41,117 varying sizes of sanitisers have also been produced locally and delivered to our health facilities,” he added.