The General Secretary of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Titus Beyuo, has warned that, government could be forced to impose tougher restrictions or another lockdown, if, the coronavirus cases continue to rise at the current state the nation is experiencing.
Speaking during an interview, he revealed that, prior to the lifting of the restrictions imposed on the citizens in the country as part of ways to mitigate the spread of the virus, the association warned the government that, the lifting of restrictions and the non-compliance of Ghanaians in adhering to safety measures could trigger an increase in cases.
He further said that, the surge in the cases of infections over the past week is not surprising.
He then noted that, if it comes to enforcement of law, it lies within the domain of government and its security agencies in making sure people protect themselves adding that, if citizens don’t take care of themselves, and looking at the trajectory, the nation might have to go back to lockdown but “if that can be avoided, why not.”
“If we don’t protect ourselves and the cases keep going up, the only way is to get people restricted. Is that what we want? If that’s not what we want, then we must act now. We advised politicians right from the beginning that they should use innovative ways of campaigning. It’s just normal that when we continue to engage in such activities, we know what to expect, a boom in COVID-19 cases.”
He then cautioned Ghanaians that, by their very actions, the nation as a whole is pushing itself towards tougher restrictions that is the ban on social gatherings, lockdown, adding that, if the situation reaches that point, the political leaders will have no option.
In the latest update released by the Ghana Health Service, the country has recorded new cases which is seen taking the country’s total number of infections to 49,202.
In total, 47,726 people have recovered from the virus and have been discharged while the death toll remains at 320.
Addressing the nation on Sunday 8th November 2020, to provide updates on the measures being taken to mitigate the spread of the virus, President Akuffo-Addo, giving a detailed account of the rate of infection in Ghana indicated that, the average number of cases recorded per day had increased from 25 new cases to 130 and as a result, Ghana’s COVID-19 case count now stands at 1,139.
Breaking the infections down, he revealed that, an analysis of the active case data showed that, the Greater Accra Region accounts for 75%, with Ashanti, Bono, Eastern and Western being responsible for 16% of active cases, eleven regions make up 4% of the cases, with arrivals at Kotoka International Airport responsible for the other 5%.
He further disclosed that, only two districts in the Greater Accra Region have not recorded COVID-19 cases.
President Akufo-Addo also expressed fears over what seems to be a second wave of the infections where he stated that, the country appears to be letting its guards down by breaching the COVID-19 safety protocols and urged Ghanaians to collectivize efforts in order not to water down government’s enhanced measures to minimize the rate of the spread.
