Lockdown not imminent but remains an option – Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed that the government of Ghana is currently not considering an imminent shutdown of the country despite the spike in the country’s recorded cases of the deadly Coronavirus disease.

According to Oppong Nkrumah, the fact that other countries have resorted to lockdowns in their jurisdictions to contain the disease does not mean Ghana must necessarily do same.

He says the dynamics of each country are different and unique.

“There’s a lot of talk and agitation to go on a lockdown because we’re seeing it happen in other places. Jurisdictions have different dynamics when it comes to even food supply or essential living supply. So, the decision to lock down or not is not one that is taken lightly or because we see other places doing it.

The experts continue to provide their advise to the decision-makers. His excellency the President sits down at 6 pm every evening with the COVID-19 response team made up of experts from all over. They give him advise subjected to interrogation so he [President Akufo-Addo] doesn’t take those decisions lightly so all options are on the table but at this stage, the advise and the consideration is to go in accordance with the information we have gone with”

Earlier today, the government announced through the Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu that the number of coronavirus cases in Ghana has risen from 27 to 52.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, the Health Minister said, "Out of the 185 test results received, we have 25 of those quarantined tested positive. If you add on to the earlier number of 27, it means we have 52 people who have tested positive in our country at the moment.

"Those in quarantine, we have actually deployed psychologists to have chats with them. We are also in the process of handing them over to our case management teams we have set up. We have started taking them to isolated centres for case management," the minister said.

Out of the 52 confirmed cases, two persons have died.

The huge surge in the numbers has led to vociferous calls from several quarters that the country should immediately be put on lockdown as has been done in other countries to curtail the spread of the virus.

But the Information Minister claims the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is constantly receiving advice from experts and will make that determination on whether to lock down the country if it becomes absolutely necessary.

“Let me say that all options are on the table, the government continues to receive advice from which is subjected to analysis by the experts and let me take it further a little bit, in these times, we understand that there’s a lot of agitation, commentary and suggestions but we must trust the process and allow the experts to advise the decision-makers to make a good decision”

“In the very beginning, there was a lot agitation about why the Ghanaian students in China have not been brought back home. The experts advised that it was not a thing to do though that decision at the time it was made appeared to be unpopular, events unfolding showed that experts got it right and the decisions makers got it right by taking the advice of the experts.”