Coronavirus: Another lockdown possible if cases rise – GMA warns

The General Secretary of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Titus Bayuo, has described as not surprising the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Dr Bayuo states that government was warned by the association months ago that the lifting of restrictions and the non-compliance of Ghanaians in adhering to safety measures could trigger an increase in cases.

He warned that the government could be forced to impose another lockdown or tougher restrictions if the cases continue to rise at the current state.

“If it comes to enforcement of law it lies within the domain of government and its security agencies in making sure people protect themselves. If we don’t take care of ourselves, and looking at the trajectory, we might have to go back to lockdown but if that can be avoided, why not,” Dr Bayuo said on Monday on the Morning Starr.

He added “If we don’t protect ourselves and the cases keep going up, the only way is to get people restricted. Is that what we want? If that’s not what we want, then we must act now. We advised politicians right from the beginning that they should use innovative ways of campaigning. It’s just normal that when we continue to engage in such activities, we know what to expect, a boom in COVID-19 cases.

“My caution to Ghanaians is that by our very actions, we are pushing ourselves towards tougher restrictions [ i.e. ban on social gatherings, lockdown] and if we get there the political leaders will have no option.”

Ghana’s active cases in the ongoing COVID-19 fight has increased to 1156 from less than 330 a little over a month ago.

In the latest update released by the Ghana Health Service, the country has recorded 198 new cases taking the country’s total number of infections to 49,202.

In total, 47,726 people have recovered from the virus and have been discharged while the death toll remains at 320.

Addressing the nation on Sunday, President Akufo-Addo said “In recent weeks, however, we have observed a gradual change in the trajectory of the virus, with an increase in active cases from the 398 cases recorded three weeks ago, to 1,139 active cases, as at Friday, 6th November 2020. The total number of deaths now stands at 320, a great majority of them, still, with underlying illnesses, such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic liver disease and asthma.”

The increase in active figures will be a worry to many as Europe and other parts of the World are experiencing a second wave of the virus that has claimed 1,241,243 lives and infected 49,131,800 globally.