Former Health Minister, Joseph Yieleh Chireh wants government to immediately lockdown Accra, Kumasi and put the necessary systems in place before the coronavirus situation in the country gets out of hand.
The case count of the pandemic in Ghana currently stands at 52 with two deaths.
Speaking to Citi News, the Wa West MP said such a measure is necessary to prevent further spread of the disease.
“My candid view about lockdown is that it is getting too late and when you allow the situation to alarm everybody, the lockdown will be difficult to do. Indeed if you look at it, we have to explain in detail what the directives the President has given mean and what the implications are but the lockdown can only be in respect of the big cities.”
“Accra, Kumasi, by this time, there should have been a lockdown. It is unpleasant but in carrying it out, we will learn from the other countries. If we do not do this early and allow the disease to spread, by the time we lock down almost everybody will be in distress,” he said.
Bureau of Public Safety calls for lockdown
The Bureau of Public Safety has also called for the “immediate discriminated lockdown” of Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions for at least 21 days.
The Bureau also called for the lockdown of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and all All Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
It added that essential services could be exempted from this lockdown.
In the urge to the government, the Bureau also called on the President “to draw from lessons from countries such as China, Italy, etc which have been hard hit by the pandemic and timely actions of Rwanda which has fewer cases yet has taken that bold decision to lockdown.”
52 cases
The 25 new cases were confirmed among the 1,030 people who are under mandatory quarantine in the country after arriving at the Kotoka International Airport hours to the deadline for the closure of the country’s borders.
Ghana’s death toll has also risen to two as of Monday, March 23, 2020.
611 people out of the 1030 people in self-quarantine have so far been tested for the Coronavirus and only 185 of the number have their results released.
The Ministry is yet to receive the remaining results.
