There is possibility of a lockdown - Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister-designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said that if the upward trend of the coronavirus infection in Ghana persists, the president will have no option but to lock down the country.

Ghana has recorded 3,286 active cases of the coronavirus as of Monday, January 25, according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

The death toll is now 367, the GHS added.

So far, the country has recorded a total of 60,794 cases with 57,141 recoveries and discharges.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah who is also Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, addressing the media on Monday, January 25 said “There is a possibility of a lockdown and other restrictions. If this trend continues, then yes that is where we are heading.

“I have to be very clear on that one that more restrictions could be introduced if this trend continues. We are being reminded that we all need to be doing the things we were doing, in the beginning, to ensure that this third rise is quickly dealt with because the dynamics of this third rise appear to be different from the first one.

“So especially if these numbers go up this way then just like the President himself articulated, then we are heading for more restrictions even if it means reviewing some Legal Instruments, yes that is where we will be heading.”

Meanwhile, Professor Gordon Awandare of the West African Centre for Cell Biology and Infectious Pathogens has asked the government to improve the testing capacity.

He told Abena Tabi on the Key Point on TV3 Saturday Janury 23 that “We have to increase the testing to the community, if we want to get the real picture.”

Prof Awandare has also asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to prohibit funerals, wedding and other large gatherings again following the rise in the daily count of the coronavirus in Ghana.

He said that people attend these events in their masks but during the programme they remove them.

This situation, he said, put them at a high risk of being infected with the virus.

He told Abena that “There are some social events that are not essential, funerals and weddings. Let us ban them again.

“You go to these events and initially all of them wear a mask but as it goes on they remove it. If people will not be responsible enough to postpone their weddings and funerals we need to compel them to do that.”