GhanaWeb Special: How artisans in Accra are coping with coronavirus in a hotspot

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt economies and businesses, a sector that has been vastly forgotten is the Art and Crafts center in Ghana.

Despite the easing of some coronavirus restrictions, the sector which relies solely on foreigners trooping in to trade for art and cultural pieces, has not been spared the wrath of the pandemic.

With the preventive etiquette and safety protocols still in place, areas that have been identified as hotspots for the spread of virus are by the day, seen practicing zero to little adherence to the social distancing rule and disregarding the use of nose masks.

GhanaWeb last week, took a tour of the Accra Arts Centre which is located in the Klottey Korle constituency, an identified hotspot by the Ghana Health Service.

Some of the residents and artisans at the center bemoaned the impact the pandemic had incurred on their livelihoods and businesses.

The artisans told the news team their only instinct at the present was to survive rather than ‘live with the virus’ as suggested by the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu and the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Many of the shop owners and artisans also decried not being included in the recently rolled out stimulus package designed for small enterprises hit by the pandemic.

The only virus that existed for them at the present, they said, was that of hunger and the lack of money to facilitate their businesses. Others on the hand, even doubted the coronavirus case numbers being churned out by the Ghana Health Service.

See the full report below;