President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said despite Ghana’s impressive achievements in containing the spread of COVID-19, the government will not rush to open all the country’s borders, apart from the Kotoka International Airport.
The President said the country currently does not have multiple PCR negative testing centres across all the borders, aside from that of Kotoka, to ensure that persons who come in from other countries are coronavirus-free or test negative to the virus.
In his 18th address to the nation on measures to fight COVID-19, Sunday, October 18, 2020, President Akufo-Addo said it was common knowledge that the emergence of the virus on “our shores came from abroad, which necessitated the closure of the country’s borders, by land, air and sea, in March 2020.”
He said following the provision of testing facilities, which would ensure the speed and accuracy of Covid-19 testing, Kotoka International Airport was reopened on September 1, 2020.
Since the reopening six ago, the President noted that “30,564 passengers have been tested, from which 92 have tested positive. All the 92 are asymptomatic cases, whose status, but for the test, would not have been detected and would have spread the disease amongst the rest of the population.”
President Akufo-Addo said he was aware that some persons are calling on the government to extend the PCR negative test period before boarding the flight from three days to at least five days.
He, however, said in the context of the second wave of infections that is engulfing so many countries of Europe and America, the government insisted on the three days as “it is better to be safe than sorry.”
As of Friday, October 15, 2020, the number of active cases in the country had declined further to 398 with 46, 664 persons fully recovered from the virus, putting the country’s recovery rate at 98.5 percent.
Thirteen more deaths had occurred, bringing the number of deaths to 310, representing 0.5 percent out of 510, 074 persons tested.
The President said science and data show that the trajectory of the virus in Ghana mirrors that of an epidemic with reduced disease activity.
Ghana’s daily infection rate is no longer in the hundreds as they were sometime back.
That, President Akufo-Addo explained, was in sharp contrast with what is happening in the countries that are experiencing a second wave of infections, where, in some instances, new infections and hospitalisations are in the thousands per day.
He said despite the country’s successes, “I would like to reiterate that this virus remains something of a mystery, and we should always rather err on the side of caution, and continue to observe the protocols that have brought us to where we are.”
“When you take a close look at the measures some other countries are taking, including imposing night-time curfews and partial lockdowns, declaring a state of emergencies, limiting the numbers of people permitted at public gatherings…all in the bid to contain the second wave of the virus, we in Ghana have been spared all these developments and restrictions.”
“We must, thus, be doing something right” President Akufo-Addo stated, adding, “in fact, our favourable situation at the moment is thanks to the effectiveness of the government policies, the co-operation of you, the Ghanaian people, and, ultimately, to the grace of God.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
