Coronavirus updates As it happens (2020-03-30)

Mar 31, 2020

BREAKING 94 Persons Who Came Into Contact With UG Coronavirus Student Test Negative

Test on some 94 students and staff of the University of Ghana who came into contact with a student of the university infected with Coronavirus diseases have all proved negative.

The 94 persons were tested for COVID-19 after they were done with the 14-day isolation period.

Mar 31, 2020

Lockdown: Commander Chases Officer Who ‘Punished’ Kasoa Resident

The Commanding Officer for the 64 Infantry Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Appah says efforts are being made to find the officer who abused a resident of Kasoa by making him undertake several frog jumps on the streets.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, March 30, 2020, at Kasoa which is part of the areas under lockdown as part of efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Ghana.

Mar 30, 2020

Kenya MP Tests Positive; Chases 50 MPs To Be Tested

Kenya’s lower parliamentary chamber wants some 50 lawmakers to be tested for coronavirus amid fears they may have contracted the virus from a member who recently tested positive, the Daily Nation newspaper reports.

Local media reports say the parliament has submitted the names of MPs and parliamentary staff it wants tested to the health ministry. It wants them placed on mandatory quarantine as well.

Mar 30, 2020

CJ Orders Lockdown Of Courts

The Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah has ordered court registrars to adjourn all cases affected by the partial lockdown to dates in May and June as measures to stop the further spread of Covid-19.

All courts in the partial lockdown areas are also to cease sitting while provision has been made for selected courts to deal with critical cases which may arise in the course of the lockdown such as breaches of the lockdown order and other criminal matters.

Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah

Mar 30, 2020

Lockdown: More Padlocks Than People In Accra [Photos]

The two-week partial lockdown begun and there were more padlocks more than people in some of Accra’s business areas as Areas like Kantamanto and Makola, which record brisk activities during normal business days were virtually empty today.

For a large stretch, the area known for the sale of new and used clothing, shoes, bags and others, was deserted save for a solitary pharmacy.

Mar 30, 2020

Gov't Rejects Netherlands Embassy Request To Transfer COVID-19 Patient’s Body To Private Mortuary

The Ministry of Health has rejected a request by the Netherlands Embassy for the body of a patient who died from COVID-19 last week to be transferred from the government hospital to a private mortuary.

The sector minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu in a response to the Embassy noted that the Public Health Regulations regarding persons who die under circumstances such as COVID-19 must be strictly handled by the state and for that matter cannot be sent to a private facility.

Mar 30, 2020

Gov't Pushing For Petroleum Act Amendment To Use Heritage Fund For COVID-19 Fight

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is calling for the amendment of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) to allow government to utilize portions of the Heritage Fund from the oil revenues to combat the Coronavirus outbreak.

“Amend the PRMA to allow a withdrawal from the Ghana Heritage Fund to undertake emergency expenditures in periods of national emergency. There is an estimated US$591.1 million in the Ghana Heritage Fund,” the Finance Minister told Parliament on Monday.

Mar 30, 2020

See how worldwide cases hit 750,000 with our visual guide

By BBC News

The coronavirus pandemic has become a global health crisis affecting at least 177 countries.

The total number of confirmed cases globally surged above 750,000 on Monday, a grim new milestone for a disease that was first detected in one Chinese city around four months ago.

Given the global scale of the health emergency, it is difficult to comprehend how Covid-19 has proliferated so quickly.

To help you make sense of the pandemic, you can read our visual guide, which includes maps and charts with the latest data on deaths, cases and recoveries.

Mar 30, 2020

N/R; Over 300 Markets To Be Disinfected On Wednesday

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) has announced that it will continue with its disinfection exercise of markets in the Northern Region on Wednesday, April 1.

The exercise is in line with the directive from the government to the MLGRD to have all markets in the country disinfected inorder to promote hygienic conditions and to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Mar 30, 2020

Sout Arica To Rollout Mass Screening For Coronavirus: President Cyril Ramaphosa

South Africa, which has the highest numbers of confirmed coronavirus infections on the continent, will start mass door-to-door screening and testing for coronavirus, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday.

The "unprecedented" exercise will be launched in the next few days, with at least 10,000 field workers deployed across the country of 57 million people, he said in an address to the nation.

South Africa has been under lockdown since last Friday, but people still leave to leave their homes to collect social security. By MARCO LONGARI (AFP)

Mar 30, 2020

Global Lockdown Tightens As Virus Deaths Mount

Harsh lockdowns aimed at halting the march of the coronavirus extended around the world on Monday as the death toll soared past 35,000 despite slivers of hope in stricken Italy and Spain.

In a symbol of the scale of the challenge facing humanity, a US military medical ship sailed into New York to relieve the pressure on overwhelmed hospitals bracing for the peak of the pandemic.

Spain confirmed another 812 deaths in 24 hours from the coronavirus, a slight decline from the previous day. By LLUIS GENE (AFP)

Mar 30, 2020

Italy Poised For Another 2-Week Lockdown; Spain On A Downward Trend

Italy's death toll continues to rise, as the national doctor association announced on Monday that 63 doctors have died, while the Italian Institute of Health reports that 8358 healthcare workers are infected with Covid-19, a jump of 595 from the day before.

Not all the doctors had been tested for coronavirus, but the institute said they were from the hardest-hit Lombardy region in the north of the country, and their deaths have been attributed to the disease.

MANUEL LORENZO/AFP

Mar 30, 2020

BREAKING Italy extends lockdown to 12 April

Italy is extending its lockdown until "at least" 12 April, the country's health minister has said.

It comes as the country's death toll rose to 11,591.

Italy was first put in lockdown three weeks ago today.

Mar 30, 2020

Armed Forces Chases TV3 For Apology Over Intimidation Video

The Ghana Armed Force is demanding an apology and retraction from tv3 over what they described as false reportage during the 10pm news coverage on Saturday, March 30.

In a press statement, the Public Relations Directorate stated that the news item which purportedly showed troops from Burma Camp threatening residents of Kumasi during the impending partial lockdown exercise to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is totally untrue and deliberately staged with obvious malice intent.

Mar 30, 2020

50% Of What Ghanaians Know Is Misinformation – Report

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has had severe consequences on the lives of people across the world. Despite it being a public health problem, the auxiliary effect of this pandemic cuts across all facets of life in terms of health, economics, education, just to mention a few. The scare of this pandemic keeps increasing each day as the incidence of the disease keeps increasing across the globe. With the disease currently in 190 countries despite the innovative effort by governments, international organizations and stakeholders, the numbers keep swelling with more than 560000/25000 confirmed cases/death recorded within a short time.

With no cure at the moment to this pandemic, preventive measures stand as the only way to decrease the spread of the disease. Effective handwashing, use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, avoiding direct contacts, sneezing and coughing cautiously, staying physically active, among other preventive measures have been suggested by public health professionals to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Hence the need for the public to be well informed about Covid-19.

Mar 30, 2020

Covid-19 US$100m Fund, GHS1bn For SMEs All Ready – Ofori-Atta

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta says the US$100 million fund to fight the COVID-19 pandemic has been received and is available for disbursement.

“Contrary to views of some sceptics that the money is not available, I wish to assure you that the money has been secured and is available to be disbursed in accordance with our public financial management procedures and rules.

Mar 30, 2020

Coronavirus, Others To Cost GHs9.5bn – Finance Minister

The coronavirus pandemic is set to cost Ghana GHS9.505 billion, according to Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister.

This will be 2.5 percent of Ghana’s revised GDP.

Mar 30, 2020

Predicting COVID-19: what applying a model in Kenya would look like

As the Kenyan government continues to find more cases of COVID-19, test more people and trace those who were in contact with infected people, the number of COVID-19 cases in Kenya is expected to change.

For the government to successfully manage the pandemic , it needs to understand how the virus that causes the disease is transmitted and whether mitigation measures are effective.

Staff members of Local NGO Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) in the Kibera slum, Nairobi, on March 20, 2020. - Source: Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images

Mar 30, 2020

COVID-19 stalls peacekeeping troop rotation in South Sudan

In early March, South Sudan's Chief of Defence Forces, Gabriel Jok Riak, asked the Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in South Sudan to suspend the peacekeeping rotation from five Asian countries. This raises procedural concerns and poses immediate and longer-term implications.

The move targeting China, South Korea, India, Nepal and Cambodia was clearly aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Between them, these five countries contribute a third of approximately 16,492 peacekeeping staff currently deployed with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

Members of the South Korean peacekeeping unit at their base in the city of Bor, Jonglei State, South Sudan in July 2015 - Source: EPA/YONHAP

Mar 30, 2020

COVID-19 aviation standstill hampers Ghana's development efforts

Making Ghana a regional and international aviation hub was one of President Akuffo Addo's objectives upon taking office in 2017. There has been much progress: the Kotoka International Airport in Accra was ranked number one in 2019 for airports receiving between 2 million and 5 million passengers by the Airports Council International, winning the Airport Service Quality Award . Beyond the $275 million investment in Kotoka Airport, the Kumasi, Tamale and Sunyani airports are also benefiting from major improvements to infrastructure.

This aviation ambition is linked to the creation of jobs. It is also strongly linked to the National Tourism Development Plan , which aims to achieve 8 million tourists per year by 2027. Most of them will arrive in the country by air and they are expected to contribute over $8 billion to the economy.

The aviation industry is a key part of Ghana's economic agenda - Source: John Dramani Mahama/Flickr