Ghana further extends ban on public and social gathering for two weeks
By Morkporkpor Anku – (Accra-Ghana) – Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has announced a two weeks further extension on the ban on public and social gathering, as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
This comes as Ghana’s case count jumped to 1,550 with 11 deaths and 155 recoveries as of Sunday, April 26.
The President, speaking during his 8th COVID-19 address to the Nation said the Executive Instrument (EI) 64, of March 15, 2020 has been extended and will accordingly come to effect from Monday, April, 27.
President Akufo-Addo revealed that 32,000 more persons have undergone testing for COVID-19 and are awaiting results.
This indicates an increment of 508 from last Sunday’s 1,042 confirmed cases Ghana had recorded.
“The new cases of death are of people with underlying health issues,” he added.
The President said: “The pandemic is affecting all parts of the world including Ghana. The truth is that this will be a long war. We are still very much in uncharted territory and will not let our guard down as the fight against this virus will progress. We cannot and will not rest on our laurels.”
He again revealed that 1,378 confirmed cases have mild or no symptoms at all and are responding to treatment.
Meanwhile, The United States government has made available about 2,500 kilograms of medical cargo and supplies provided by the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit Three (NAMRU-3) Ghana Detachment.
The items, delivered by the U.S. Air Force C-130J aircraft from the 86th Airlift Wing in Ramstein Air Base, Germany, which arrived at Kotoka International Airport included ribonucleic acid, a nucleic acid (RNA) extraction kits, reagents, and viral collection swabs.
Others include universal and viral transport media to collect and store specimens, and the replenishment of other consumable lab supplies.
According to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Accra, the items were originally ordered in January 2020 to support NAMRU-3 Ghana Detachment research efforts, specifically ongoing influenza surveillance, in partnership with Ghana’s National Influenza Center at the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and the Kumasi Centre of Collaborative Research (KCCR) in Tropical Medicine.
The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana Stephanie S. Sullivan noted that the delivery of the medical supplies underscores the results of the growing partnership between the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana to combat COVID-19, to save lives and protect the people of this nation.
She said: “As confirmed cases gradually made their way to West Africa and eventually Ghana, these essential laboratory supplies became even more critical during this rapidly evolving crisis and would have remained stranded in Manchester, U.K., until sometime in May if not for the assistance of the U.S. Air Force.”
Ambassador Sullivan commended the Government of Ghana for its strong efforts to combat this pandemic, and we are pleased to partner in its leading efforts.
The Command’s Director for Logistics, Air Force Brig. Gen. Leo Kosinski, said the emergence of COVID-19 has introduced some new hurdles we have had to consider in U.S. Africa Command’s Area of Responsibility.
He said the “Movement of this shipment of critical medical supplies from the United Kingdom to Ghana represents one of many logistics moves executed recently despite operating in one of the most logistically challenging theaters to move people and materiel.
He emphasized that the fact that so many professionals from multiple commands quickly came together to work through this particular requirement highlights our amazing and unique team of professionals. “They are working together every day for the interests of the American people and our global partners even in the toughest of circumstances.”
The April 24, 2020 delivery of medical supplies to Ghana follows other critical U.S. military support in the health sector, such as the delivery of two state-of-the-art Level II Field Hospitals that Ambassador Sullivan handed over to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on February 4 on behalf of the United States through the U.S.
Government’s Africa Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership program. One of these hospitals is already being utilized to support the Government of Ghana’s COVID-19 response efforts in Accra, the Embassy’s statement stated.
NAMRU-3 Ghana Detachment is a collaborator within the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch Global Emerging Infections Surveillance partner network and has supported influenza surveillance for both human and avian influenza strains in Ghana since 2007.
