CORONA VIRUS UPDATE IN GHANA
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressed the nation on Sunday, March 15, 2020 and directed all schools in the country to shut down effective Monday, March 16, 2020.
In his speech; “All Universities, Senior High Schools and basic schools, i.e. public and private schools, will be closed Monday, 16th March 2020, till further notice. The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication, has been tasked to roll out distance learning programmes,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo, however, said students who will be taking part in this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) “will be allowed to attend school to prepare for their examinations, but with prescribed social distancing protocols.”
Government bans Church activities, funerals, all other public gatherings
Further in his speech, he stated that; the government has also banned all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, church activities, and other related events as part of measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The President during the national address stressed that, the ban will be in force for the next four weeks. Emphasizing; “I have decided in the interest of public safety and the protection of our population to review the public gathering advisories earlier announced as follows. Firstly, all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, sporting events and religious activities, such as services in churches and mosques, have been suspended for the next four (4) weeks. Private burials are permitted, but with limited numbers, not exceeding twenty-five (25) in attendance,” Nana Akufo-Addo said.
The above directives comes into play following four more cases of Coronavirus being confirmed in Ghana bringing to six, the total number of cases to have been reported in the country. This was announced to update citizens on the outbreak of the Novel 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.
The government said three of the cases were recorded in Accra while one other was recorded in the Ashanti Region. The Director of Public Health at Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie who provided updates on the country’s cases said the new cases were also imported into the country.
He said two of the cases were confirmed on the 13th of March 2020 while the other two were confirmed on 14th March, 2020.
Travel Advisory
1. All travel to Ghana is strongly discouraged until further notice.
2. Any traveler, except for Ghanaian citizens and persons with Ghana residence permits, who within the last 14 days, has been to a country that has recorded at least 200 cases of COVID-19, will not be admitted into the Ghanaian jurisdiction. Airlines are instructed not to allow such persons to embark. Border posts are instructed not to allow such persons into the jurisdiction.
3. There will be a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for persons who are otherwise allowed to enter the Ghanaian jurisdiction. Guidelines for self-quarantine will be available at the various Ghanaian ports of entry. Enforcement protocols are being deployed in collaboration with state security and health authorities. Persons determined to be unable to satisfactorily self-quarantine will be quarantined by the State.
4. Any admissible traveler, who exhibits symptoms of COVID-19 will be quarantined and tested upon reaching Ghana.
5. Item one of this statement takes immediate effect.
6. Items 2, 3 & 4 take effect at 1pm on Tuesday March 17th 2020.
How to protect yourself : To prevent the spread, the standard recommendations coming from the WHO is regular hand washing, covering one’s mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs.
People are also advised to avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
Source: citinewsroom.com and ghanahealthservice.org
