Ghana’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 stands at 378, with six deaths, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, announced on Thursday.
Two patients remain in critical condition but four have fully recovered.
President Akufo-Addo explained that so far, 79 per cent of the 378 confirmed cases were imported, thus a justification of the travel restrictions the Government had imposed to limit the importation of the respiratory disease.
In his sixth national broadcast to update citizens on the situation of the Covid-19 outbreak and measures, the President said 192 of the cases came from travelers who entered the country before the closure of the borders, whilst 105 cases came from those who were mandatorily quarantined and tested on their arrival on March 21st and 22nd.
He said about 10,000 contacts traced were to be tested in the coming week, the outcome of which would determine the government’s next action on the partial lockdown.
So far, 37,405 samples had been tested during the partial lockdown, of which 31,933 were in Accra and 5,472 in Kumasi.
As at Wednesday, April 8, 14,611 contacts of the samples collected had been tested for the virus in Accra and Kumasi.
There are 450 contact tracing teams currently working in Accra and Kumasi collecting nasal and sputum samples of persons who have come into contact with COVID-19 patients to ascertain their status.
President Akufo-Addo, consequently, announced the extension of the stay at home measure for one more week effective Monday, April 13, 2020 at exactly 0100hours.
The current two-week measure in 40 localities in the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas and contiguous districts took effect at 0100 hours on Monday, March 30.
On reliefs for residents in lockdown areas, President Akufo-Addo said, the government would absorb the electricity bills of lifeline consumers. – those who consume not more than 50 kilowatt hours of electricity per month.
It would pay 50 per cent of the bills of other domestic and commercial consumers, using the March bill as a benchmark.
President Akufo-Addo entreated all Ghanaians to continue observing the safety and hygiene protocols put in place in order to win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He expressed his gratitude to the frontline health workers and security personnel for their patriotism and sacrifices towards the fight against the virus.
He also thanked international organisations, including the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Jack Ma Foundation, the Chinese and US governments for their show of solidarity in the crisis.
By Godwill Arthur-Mensah/ Christabel Addo, GNA
