It’s not a good time to end lockdown – Health economist cautions ahead of president's address

Health Economist, Dr. Gordon Abeka-Nkrumah has urged government to extend the lockdown in parts of the country as ending it will cause more harm than good.

He urged the president not to heed to calls for the lifting of the directive as the time is not right.

According to Dr. Abeka-Nkrumah, removing the restriction of movements will affect the progress the country has made so far in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic as Ghana is currently at a critical stage in the fight.

“Lockdowns have economic gradients. So the best we can do is to make sure that, we get people to stay home in the next week or two. We make sure we ramp up tests and isolate people and then we can encourage the wearing of masks so that we can then come out. Because if we don’t do that and we joke, what will happen is that we may go back again and lockdown entirely in a way that we probably cannot handle. We need to get a bit more firm and get this to work,” he said on Citi TV’s ‘The Big Issue’

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to address the nation at 9:00 pm Sunday, April 19 2020, on additional measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The president is also expected to announce if the lockdown on Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi will be lifted or extended.

The president last week, extended the initial two-week lockdown he imposed on these areas and that ends today, April 19.

“The decision has been taken through the issuance of another executive instrument to extend the restriction of movements in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and Kasoa and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and its contiguous districts by one more week beginning 1 am on Monday the 13th of April, subject to review,” the President said.



Ghana’s case count of the Coronavirus currently stands at 834 with 99 recoveries and 9 deaths.

Deputy Health Minister, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye during his vetting on Wednesday, stated that the decision to lift or extend the lockdown will be dependent on the number of cases the country has recorded.

“If after the lockdown, you have a curve that is rising or that are going up, then you have to either maintain your measures or escalate them,” he said.

Dr Okoe-Boye further noted that “some of the positive cases now are actually samples taken a week or two ago… So, after all, these are done and the net graph you are having is a graph that is not at the top…then you try to ease your measures but if your graph is pointing upwards then you don’t have to be hasty in lowering your measures but rather keep your measures or escalate them so everything will be driven by the science of it.”