Coronavirus: Ghana must go for total lockdown - Tobinco boss

Chairman of the Tobinco Group of Companies, Nana Amo Tobbin I, prefers a total lockdown of the country to contain the spread of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic in the country.

He commended the government for coming out with some practical measures to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic but quickly added that a total lockdown of the country would have made a huge impact.

The business mogul was speaking on Atinka TV’s new programme, “COVID-19-The Impact”.

The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Friday announced a partial lockdown of Greater Accra, Kasoa, Tema and Greater Kumasi as part of measures to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The measures took effect on Monday at 1 am.

However, Nana Amo Tobbin I, who is also the President of the Pharmaceutical Division of the Association of Ghana Industries argued that the partial lockdown is not completely achieving its intended purpose.

He said the interval between the time of the declaration (Friday, March 27, 2020) and the start of the lockdown (Monday, March 30, 2020) allowed people to travel to areas that do not have reported cases.

He said the movement may have allowed persons who unknowingly have the virus to spread it as they travel across the country.

According to him, Wuhan in China, India and other countries which adopted the total lockdown policy are tackling the pandemic effectively.

Nana Amo Tobbin I, who also runs the biggest pharmaceutical company in West Africa, Entrance Pharmaceutical, was, however, optimistic that, Ghana will soon go for the total lockdown to tackle the pandemic.

Touching on homelessness amidst the lockdown, Nana Amo Tobbin I, said the government should have considered housing Kayayee’s and other homeless people before announcing the lockdown.

His comments follow reports that two cargo trucks transporting kayayei's (head porters) to Walewale in the Northern Region were busted in Ejisu in the Ashanti Region.

The kayayei's were fleeing Accra after the government announced a two-week lockdown to contain and stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana.

Nana Amo Tobbin I explained that the government could have considered housing these homeless people in the dormitories of the various Senior High Schools within the period of the lockdown since the students are currently home while the dormitories are empty.