COVID-19: Now is the best time to lock down the country – GHS

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Aboagye has advised that per public health principles, now is the best time for the country to be locked down.

Over the last 24 hours, Ghana has recorded eight (8) new coronavirus cases bringing the total infected cases to 19.

According to the Director-General of GHS, the overnight surge in cases makes it ripe for the country to be shut down just as Italy, California and New York have ordered their citizens to stay home.

“If I want to apply public health principles, that will be now. But we don’t live only on public health, we have other parameters to consider, but looking at just the public health principles now will be the best time to shutdown. But there are other ramifications and so those things, we need to calculate and make sure that at the earliest point, such systems are put in place,” he said on Newsfile, Saturday, March 21, 2020.

Three out of Ghana’s 19 COVID-19 cases have no travel history or contact with infected persons and this has increased the fear among many citizens that the number of cases could be more than what has been put out by the Ghana Health Service.

Speaking on the current affairs show on Accra-based Joy News which was monitored by ABC News, Dr. Patrick Aboagye said despite the fears, if the citizenry can strictly follow the precautionary measures outlined by the Ghana Health Service and the World Health Organization, it will slow the spread of the pandemic.

He, however, debunked claims that so long as a public gathering is restricted to only 25 persons, it is okay. According to him, President Akufo-Addo’s directive was specific to private burials but all other public gatherings have been completely suspended.

“For me, even the kind of introductions that have come in now, if we are disciplined enough to abide by them, it will significantly work well. The fact that they say we have closed schools doesn’t mean you should go and meet in the park and play football, we need to ensure that you don’t need to go out. You don’t go out in the mall, just roaming, these are the things all of us need to observe.

“I don’t know where the 25 number limit is coming from, the number the President mentioned is only limited to a private burial but all public gatherings have been banned now,” he noted.