Coronavirus: Prices soar amidst profiteering by market traders

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Ghana rises by the day, traders in personal protection equipment and consumables such as face masks, hand sanitisers, liquid soaps and even tissues, have consistently been gouging prices of such goods on the market.

This phenomenon has been posing great challenges and worries to the consuming public with regard to how much they have to pay for such essentials.

Checks by the Goldstreet Business have revealed that a 60 milliliters (60ml) bottle of sanitizer which about three weeks ago, was selling for GHc4, is now being sold at between GHc12-15 while a box of same which hitherto was sold for GHc65 is now being sold for GHc320.

A 200ml bottle which was sold for GHc7.00 is now being sold for GHc60 with a carton, which was hitherto GHc150, now selling for GHc570.

A box of face nose mask which was being sold for GHc15 now sells for GHc150 whiles a carton of same, which was sold between GHc400-GHc500 based of quality, now sells for GHc5, 500.

Similarly, this trend has also affected the price of food stuff on the Ghanaian market as sellers have suddenly and astronomically increased the prices of their goods

A container of gari (olonka) which at the beginning of the month of March was being sold at GHc8.00, has suddenly doubled to GHc17.00.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether the 100,000 medical masks and the 1000 protective suits and face shields offered to the country by billionaire Jack Ma, will be distributed to a portion of the Ghanaian general population or would only be made available to the country’s health workers.

On March 12, 2020, Ghana recorded its first COVID-19 cases, where two people who returned to the country from Europe, according to government has contracted the disease.

Since then, recorded cases have been on the rise, totalling 152 cases as of midday, Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

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