Covid-19: Job Losses Mindboggling – TUC

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is lamenting the number of job losses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country's economy.

The Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr. Yaw Baah at a meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House on Monday said the developments that necessitated a lockdown of some parts of the country has led to many job losses with many people likely to lose their jobs should restrictions on movement remain.

He said the government must intervene to stop the loss of jobs in the wake of the pandemic.

“We are in the process of assessing the impact of the health crisis on employment in Ghana. What we are seeing is mindboggling. Businesses are collapsing in almost all the sectors of the economy, many people have already lost their jobs, many more will have lost their jobs without the easing of some of these restrictions,” he said.

The Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Tema, Kasoa and the Kumasi Metropolitan Area have just come out of a three-week partial lockdown that was imposed in March as part of measures to slow and contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

President Nana Akufo-Addo in a televised broadcast on Sunday, April 19, 2020 lifted the partial lockdown on some parts of the country which was necessitated by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

According to the President, the ease of restrictions was in view of the country's ability to undertake aggressive contact tracing of infected persons among others.

President Akufo-Addo in his address , however, indicated that other restrictions such as the one on public gatherings are still in place.

He urged Ghanaians to wear face masks everywhere they go and strictly adhere to the various COVID-19 prevention protocols including handwashing and social distancing.

He also tasked businesses to ensure social distancing and make available sanitation facilities to promote handwashing.

The announcement of the partial restriction saw many businesses in the formal sector close down some of their branches and reducing their operation hours.

The financial implications led to some staff losing their jobs with others forced to take salary cuts.

With the announcement of the ease of the restrictions, some formal businesses have started opening closed branches.