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Delivering his fifth State of the Nation Address on COVID-19, President Nana Akufo-Addo has noted that the fate of Ghanaians under lockdown and future course of action regarding the pandemic will be decided on the outcome of over fifteen thousand (15000) persons who have been reached by health workers through contact tracing. 

Some areas of Ghana have been placed under partial lockdown for two weeks following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The lockdown was a directive by President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus and also help health workers undertake contact tracing which will be beneficial to the health status of the economy and the citizenry at large. 

The President recounted that Ghana is "about to enter a critical phase of our fight in the coming week, as the Ghana Health Service is due to receive the results of some 15,384 out of nineteen thousand, 19,276 persons who have been reached through contact tracing’’ and it is therefore the “results of these tests that will determine our future course of action". 

“Government’s policy and measures will continue to be driven by the science in this matter. The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are now partnering government in the struggle. I met with their representatives on Friday, and arranged with them a mechanism for the realisation of this partnership. The nation and I appreciate their involvement.  

“So, in the course of the coming week, a determination will be made as to whether or not to extend the duration of the two-week restriction on movement, and the implementation or otherwise of any more enhanced measures to deal with the virus. I have, however, by Executive Instrument, extended the closure of our borders for two (2) more weeks, until further notice. The data tells us that the overwhelming majority of confirmed cases came from travellers or from people who have come into contact with travellers," President Akufo-Addo emphasized. 

“Indeed, for every confirmed case of COVID-19, all the contacts have been listed, monitored and tracked. Additionally, in the home or place of work of a confirmed case, all persons, be they at home or at work, have been tested, whether they had symptoms or not. Within the locality or neighbourhood of a confirmed case, the opportunity is also being provided for persons to undergo voluntary testing to ascertain the extent of community spread," he added. 

Ghana's case count

As at Sunday, April 5, our current situation is such that we have recorded a total of 214 cases. The Greater Accra Region has 189 cases, followed by the Ashanti Region with 12, Northern Region ten 10, Upper West Region one, Eastern Region one, and Upper East Region one.

The 10 from the Northern Region are the West African nationals who entered our country illegally, after the closure of the borders. In total, three persons have fully recovered from the disease, 49 persons have been discharged from treatment facilities, and are being managed from home; and the remaining 155 are responding to treatment. Two persons are moderately ill, and five persons, as I said before, have lost their lives.

Of the one thousand and thirty (1,030) travellers, who were mandatorily quarantined and tested on their arrival in Ghana on the 21st and 22nd of March, seventy-nine (79) were initially found to be positive, and appropriate arrangements were made for their isolation and treatment. Subsequently, after twelve (12) further days of quarantine, twenty-six (26) other persons were found to be positive as a result of their second test, bringing the total number of those found to be positive to one hundred and five (105), all of whom have been isolated for treatment. Of the remaining nine hundred and twenty-five (925) persons, who have undergone two tests and found to be negative, eight hundred and four (804) have been released from quarantine to join their families.

The remaining one hundred and twenty-one (121) are in the process of being released.