Ketu South Municipality records more coronavirus cases in the Volta Region

Correpondence from Volta Region

The Ketu South Municipality in the Volta region is topping confirmed cases of the coronavirus outbreak in the Volta region with a total number of twenty-one cases.

On April 12, 2020, some twenty-seven travellers from the neighbouring country Nigeria, who unlawfully entered Ghana through Aflao were intercepted by the security officials and quarantined accordingly and out of which six of them were tested positive of COVID -19, after which seventy-six persons were discovered in contact tracing.

On April 30, 2020, five new positive COVID-19 cases were recorded from the seventy-six contact persons, this brings to the total number of eleven cases within the Municipality only.

On May 1, 2020, the additional seventy-two test result was released with ten being new positive COVID-19 cases recorded in the area, this brings the total to twenty-one cases of Covid-19 recorded in the Ketu South, this making the Municipality becoming a hotspot of the coronavirus pandemic in the Volta region.

However, out of this number, twelve are foreign nationals who are in quarantine and nine are Ghanaians who are contacts to the original six positive cases.

According to the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the Municipality, Hon. Elliott Agbenorwu, the affected persons are "all the people are in stable condition", he urged residents in the Municipality to be vigilant and obey the various protocols saying "I continue to urge all of us to remain calm and let's continue to observe the protocols and follow the other measures instituted by the President and the Ketu South Municipal Assembly" he noted in a press release dated Friday 1 May, 2020.

What are the Municipal Authority and individuals doing to contain the virus?

The Municipal Health Directorate led by the MCE, Elliott Agbenorwu has since the outbreak of the virus in the Municipality donated thousands of nose masks to residents, intensified education in remote and urban areas, benefited from both nationwide and regional fumigation exercise, partial lockdown of markets and encouraging residents to adhere to protective measures.

On Thursday, April 30, the Assembly led by the MCE distributed some 5,000 pieces of nose masks and 3,000 bottles of hand sanitizers to market centres, commercial motorbike riders, lorry stations, public and private institutions within the municipality in order to curb the spread of the pandemic.

The MCE has appealed to hotel managers and owners within the Municipality to co-operate with the Assembly and allow their facilities to be used as quarantine centers, which is yet to yield a result.

The Municipal Security Taskforce and the Ghana Immigration Service in the Municipality have successfully intercepted over seventy foreign nationals who have tried to illegally enter the country. Some residents in the area, especially in Aflao and Denu are swiftly adhering to the various protective measures, many commuters and market women now uses at least a nose mask or hand sanitizer, whilst fear and uncertainty has forced more people to stay at home, streets of Aflao which looks very crowded with all sort of human activities now looks dead.

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP)'s Parliamentary Candidate for the Ketu South constituency, David Tiano has on Wednesday 22 April 2020 donated food and some assorted items worth Gh¢40,000 to the aged in the constituency.

The items included bags of corn, 1500 packs of mosquito coil, 750 boxes of matches among the rest were distributed to 30 persons in each of the 39 electoral areas in the Ketu South constituency.

What are challenges in the Municipality?

Despite the interventions to discourage the spreading of coronavirus in the area, residents, especially the less privileged people and petty traders have since been struggling to survive.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has ordered the closure of the country's entry points, which affected Aflao the main entry point to Togo and other West Africa countries within the Municipality.

Residents, hawkers and petty traders have no business to do, few traders who goes out to toil amidst the border closure are commonly returning home with low sales. Transport services have increased lorry fares while one can barely find a transit for domestic travels.

Aflao to Accra transport fare was initially GHS 27.00 but the transport unions now charge between GHS 40.00 and GHS 45.00 meanwhile the State Transport Company (STC) has not changed its lorry fare.