Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has extended the ban on public gatherings until the end of the month as the country’s coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Schools will remain closed while religious activities, conferences and festivals are banned during the period. All border crossings will also remain closed.
The west African nation has so far confirmed 4,700 cases and 22 deaths, and 494 recoveries as of Monday morning.
In a televised address on Sunday night, President Akufo-Addo said extending the measures was necessary to contain the spread of the virus.
The restrictive measures were first imposed two months ago to curb the spread of the virus.
On Thursday, more than 500 workers at a fish processing plant tested positive for the virus in the industrial city of Tema, which saw the country’s total case count increase by nearly 30% – the highest in a single day.
This was days after health officials said infection rates had reached a peak.
All 533 persons were infected by one person,” President Akufo-Addo said. He did not provide details of how the disease spread in the facility or if safety measures had been in place.
The new cases recorded pushed Ghana’s total since the pandemic was first reported in the West African nation in mid-March to 4,700 as of Sunday night, the highest number of infections in West Africa and the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ghana has tested around 160,000 samples so far.
Coronavirus in Sub Saharan Africa
South Africa is the hardest-hit country in Sub-Saharan Africa with 9420 cases, followed by Ghana with 4263 cases, Nigeria with 4151 cases, Cameroon with 2274 cases, and Guinea with 2009 cases.
