Roadmap to Easing Covid-19 Restrictions Set To Be Announced, As Consultations End This Week

Consultations for easing up restrictions imposed on activities in Ghana following the covid-19 outbreak will be concluded this week, President Nana Akufo-Addo Dankwa has disclosed.

The President, addressing Muslims in a virtual message on Eid-ul-Fitr Sunday, said he is looking forward to announcing the roadmap towards easing the restriction which has seen religious centres shut for over two months.

The restrictions have been in force since March 15 as part of measures to contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus in the country. They included a ban on social gatherings, closure of schools, shutting of Ghana's national borders and a partial lockdown of Accra, Kumasi and Kasoa.
The Partial lockdown was however lifted due to its ramifications on the country’s economy.

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Akufo-Addo in his address said the consultations are ongoing to find a safe way for the country to return to normalcy.

“Stakeholder consultations are taking place on the way forward towards the easing of restrictions so that our social and economic lives can go back to normal.

“I expect these consultations to conclude this week so that I can announce to Ghanaians a clear roadmap for easing the restrictions. We have to find a way back, but in safety, for we cannot be under these restrictions forever,” the President said.

Speaking on the pandemic situation, the president said appropriate measures are being employed to aggressively tackle the outbreak, as preparations are being made to ease restrictions.

“We now have a more robust mechanism for enforcing our central strategy of defeating the virus – the application of the 3Ts, tracing, testing and treating. The tracing teams are more experienced and more efficient; testing capabilities are no longer concentrated in Accra and Kumasi, but spread more evenly across the country in Ho, Tamale, Navrongo, Takoradi and Cape Coast; treating capacity has been considerably enhanced with isolation facilities better distributed across the nation”.

President Akufo-Addo also urged the public to continue adhering to social distancing protocols and hygiene protocols.

"These developments, and continuing strong adherence to the social distancing and hygiene protocols, including wearing masks and strengthening our immune systems by eating our own foods, will enable us to face the future with greater confidence, as we battle to defeat the virus, and pray for our healthcare workers".