Ghana’s borders will not be opened any time soon as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the country’s frontiers will remain shut until further notice.
“We now see that the decision to close down our borders has been justified…Clearly, until we have the situation fully under control, we cannot, at this time, open our borders. They will have to remain shut until further notice,” he said when he addressed Ghanaians on Thursday, April 9, 2020.
Ghana’s air, sea and land borders were closed on Sunday, March 22, 2020 following an order by President Akufo-Addo as part of efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
It was subsequently extended by two weeks on April 4, 2020.
COVID-19 cases in Ghana at the time the borders were first closed were 24 but the figure has ballooned to 378 in less than a month.
President Akufo-Addo justified the extension saying it had become necessary to curb further importation of COVID-19 into Ghana.
According to him, imported cases make up 79% of Ghana’s COVID-19 case count.
The President in his sixth address to the nation updated Ghanaians on measures put in place by the country to combat the novel coronavirus which has claimed six lives.
President Akufo-Addo also extended the lockdown imposed on some parts of the country by one more week.
The extension takes effect from Monday, April 13, 2020.
“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 COVID-19 case count hits 378
Meanwhile, Ghana’s confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus has shot up to 378.
The President said the new cases were detected as a result of the ongoing enhanced contact tracing and testing exercise.
He pointed out that some 10,000 test results are expected in the coming which will enable the government to decide on the way forward.
“We should be able to test some additional 10,000 samples in the coming week to gives us a clearer picture to enable us to take a decision on the way forward.”
