Akufo-Addo Lifting Of Covid-19 Lockdown Premature, Dangerous

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Technical Team on COVID-19 has joined the growing number of groups and individuals who have criticised President Nana Akufo-Addo’s decision to lift the partial lockdown on some parts of the country.

In a statement, the Team said the lifting of the restrictions is “premature and dangerous and would most likely result in a significant escalation in the numbers of cases.”

The team argues that the virus is not yet under intense control to warrant easing restrictions on movement.

It believes with a backlog of 18,000 samples yet to be tested, there is a likelihood that Ghana’s cases may rise.

“We are mindful of the fact that a backlog of tests from samples of about 10,000 took us from 600+ cases to 1000+ cases. With over 18,000+ samples yet to be tested, there is a higher probability that our cases may surge as we are yet to get to our peak.”

“We believe these backlog samples are from primary or secondary contacts who have in turn made several contacts in the chain of human interactions and whose test results are yet to be ascertained. Looking at the return to activities defying the basic social distancing protocols as recommended, we put ourselves in a very precarious situation for a potential second wave of infections,” the NDC COVID-19 Team added in the statement.

The Team thus cautioned Ghanaians to avoid a “false sense of security and continue to stay at home as much as possible, avoid non-essential movement and respect all health protocols outlined from the onset.”

President Akufo-Addo in a televised broadcast on Sunday, April 19, 2020 explained that the lifting of the partial lockdown o n some parts of the country was necessitated by the country's ability to undertake aggressive contact tracing of infected persons among others.

While some groups and individuals have expressed their displeasure about the decision, others have welcomed it.

Citi News' tour around some of the areas affected by the lockdown showed the return to normal business with vehicular traffic building up in most places.

In some commercial vehicles are markets, it was observed that social distancing was not being observed as commuters and traders went about their work with little care or caution.

Already, some experts have challenged the government's decision to lift the lockdown. They believe that the move is dangerous and could spark a new wave of infection of COVID-19. Ghana's COVID-19 case count cross 1,000 mark

Ghana's Coronavirus cases have increased to 1,042.

Nine deaths and 99 recoveries have also been recorded.

So far ten out of Ghana’s 16 regions have recorded cases of COVID-19.