COVID-19 Lockdown: Drinking Bars, Night Clubs, Pubs Remain Closed — Gov't Clarifies

Government has clarified that drinking bars, night clubs, pubs, and other similar service providers must be closed down as part of the President’s partial lockdown in selected cities in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.

At a press encounter on Sunday, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Kwasi Agymenang explained that food chains and restaurants must operate only pick-up and delivery services.

“All drinking bars, night clubs, pubs, etc within the specified areas must remain closed during the period,” he said.

For hotels, Mr. Agyemang noted that they can “operate as normal and host their guests”.

These measures for the hospitality industry will be spearheaded by the GTA under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and in conjunction with the National Security Taskforce on COVID-19.

Restaurants, gyms and other facilities of the hotels will service only the resident guests, subject to the specified enhanced hygiene protocols and social distancing.

The staff of hotels, food chains and restaurants will be provided “special passes by National Security, which must be worn in addition to their normal IDs”, Mr. Agyemang announced.

He concluded that, “facilities should observe the protocol and precautionary measures on public gathering as spelt out in the imposition of restriction Act, 2020.”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Friday imposed a lockdown on the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) including Kasoa in the Central Region as well as parts of the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) which includes Kumasi the Ashanti Region.

Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi have been tagged as the hotspots of the disease in Ghana.

The lockdown is expected to take effect on Monday, March 30, 2020, at 1 am. Services exempted from restrictions

• Members of the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary;
• Production, distribution and marketing of food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, medicine, paper and plastic packages;
• Environmental and sanitation activities;
• Staff of VALCO;
• Road and railway construction workers;
• Mining workers;
• Fisherfolk;
• Members of the security agencies assigned lawful duties;
• Staff of electricity, water, telecommunications, e-commerce and digital service providers;
• Staff of fuel stations; and
• The Media

During the two-week partial lockdown of Accra and Kumasi from Monday, March 30, the over 3.2 million residents in these areas have been advised by President Nana Akufo-Addo to only leave their homes in search of essential items or activities.

Among these essentials listed by the President are food, medicine and water.

The only activities that the average citizen will be allowed to undertake during this period will be banking transactions and the use of public toilet facilities.

As part of the lockdown, there shall be no inter-city movement of vehicles and aircraft for private or commercial purposes.

Only vehicles and aircrafts providing essential services and those carrying cargo will have some freedom to operate.

Motorists using motorbikes will not be allowed to carry any additional person whilst all intra-city passenger vehicles, such as trotros and taxis, have been directed to reduce the number of passengers.

This is in a bid to ensure appropriate social distancing and hygiene protocols.

—citinewsroom