President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has extended the restriction on movements in Accra and Kumasi by one more week beginning 0100 Hours, Monday, April 13, 2020.
In his sixth national address to give an update on the coronavirus containment, the President said whilst the efforts that have been made to arrest and minimize the spread of the virus have been modestly successful, government needed a little more time to have a clearer picture to enable it take a decision on the way forward.
Ghana now has 378 confirmed cases of infections. Out of that number, 105 emanated from those who were mandatorily quarantined, and 192 of the cases came from those who entered the country before the closures of borders on March 22, 2020.
Out of the 378 confirrmed cases of infections, the country had recorded six deaths, four recoveries, two persons in critical conditions. The remaining cases are mild ones, and are in isolation, either being managed at home or isolation centres.
In his last address on the issue, President Akufo-Addo had indicated that next step on the fight against the disease would be determined by the outcome of the tests on over 15,000 samples taken from contacts who had been traced to other COVID-19 patients.
The President indicated that as at Wednesday, April 8, 2020, out of 14,611 contacts samples collected and tested in Accra and Kumasi for the virus, Accra returned 52 infeccted persons from 11,308 contacts, and Kumasi recoded 25 positive cases out of 3,303 contacts.
He said whilst the results were “encouraging and suggesting a limited number of positives and community spread, we expect to be able to test some 10,000 additional samples in the coming week to give us a clearer picture to enable us take a decision on the way forward”
“It appears that our common efforts have been modestly successful in containing the virus and minimizing the spread. Undoubtedly, the decisions taken from day have now proven to be effective and have saved a lot of lives”
“However this fight is not yet over…We are by no means out of the woods yet,” he said, asking Ghanaians for continued patience as government continued to implement and extend the efforts that have so far proven to be helpful.”
“It is important that we stay the course and bear the difficulties that come with it. The final results hopefully will be freedom from the virus,” he stated