Coronavirus: 11 more cases recorded, case count now 152

Ghana has recorded eleven (11) new cases of Coronavirus, confirms the Ghana Health Service (GHS). This makes the total number of cases in the country 152.

"As of 29th March 2020, at 10:30 hrs, 11 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Ghana. Ten (10) of the new cases were among persons who were under mandatory quarantine in Tamale under the direction of the Regional Security Committee of the Northern Region. The 10 cases were Guinean residents who travelled through Burkina Faso and Togo to Ghana and were picked following intelligence report. The eleventh case was recorded in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region," GHS stated.

The death toll is 5.

Tamale is the fourth region to record coronavirus cases. Greater Accra, Ashanti and Upper West had recorded cases before the declaration of a lockdown.

Partial lockdown

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Friday evening declared a partial lockdown of Accra, Tema and Kumasi effective 1am on Monday, March 30, 2020 to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease.

Addressing the nation, he said: “Prevailing circumstances mean that stricter measures have to be put in place to contain and halt the spread of the virus within our country, especially in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi, which have been identified by the Ghana Health Service as the ‘hotspots’ of the infections.

“In doing this, we cannot afford to copy blindly, and do all the things some other well-developed countries are doing. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this pandemic. We have a unique situation in our country, and we must take it into account in dealing with the disease, whilst meeting all the six (6) key WHO guidelines on the most effective ways of combating the pandemic. Even though it may be said that the number of our infections is still, relatively, low, if we act now purposefully, we have a chance of preventing an escalation of our numbers.”

Some services, including members of the security agencies assigned lawful duties; staff of electricity, water, telecommunications, e-commerce and digital service providers; members of the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary; production, distribution and marketing of food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, medicine, paper and plastic packages; staff of VALCO were however exempted from the restrictions.