The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has advised president Akufo-Addo to declare “a nationwide lockdown” as confirmed cases of Covid-19 increase in the country.
Ghana has confirmed on Wednesday 68 cases with three deaths.
In a statement, the GMA said there is no option than shutting down the entire country to check the spread of the disease.
“The GMA being fully conscious of the threat posed by this pandemic, the disturbing trend of community spread and the obvious inadequate of capacity (logistic and human resource) of the nation’s health system to deal with increased numbers of COVID-19 infection especially in the severe to critical cases, call on His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana to declare a Nationwide Lockdown with the exception of essential services with immediate effect,” the GMA said in a statement signed by its president Dr Frank Ankobea and general secretary Dr Justice Yankson.
It added: “The Lockdown though not a comfortable decision for leadership and citizens alike, is a proven option backed by science and along with the other measures will ultimately be in our best interest. We call on all Ghanaians to support such a move in the national interest to save our nation from the devastating effects of this pandemic.”
Covid-19 situation in Ghana
One hundred and sixty-one persons have completed the 14 days of mandatory follow up as Ghana confirms a third death from the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement from the Ghana Health Service stated.
At the moment, the West African nation has recorded a total of 68 Covid-19 cases.
Sixty-six of these confirmed cases are being managed in isolation, the GHS stated.
The sudden spike in case incidence is as a result of the mandatory quarantine and compulsory testing for all travelers entering Ghana, as directed by the president. Overall, 30 of the 68 cases have been reported in the general population with the remaining 38 cases among persons currently under mandatory quarantine.
As of 25 March, total of 1,030 persons are under mandatory quarantine; samples from 863 of them have been tested and 38 confirmed positive.
Great majority of the confirmed cases are Ghanaians, who returned home from affected countries. Seven are of other nationalities namely: Norway, Lebanon, China and UK. In respect of contact tracing, a total of 829 contacts have been identified and are being tracked. Total of 860 contacts have been enlisted and being tracked.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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