Joy or fear? Mixed feelings as Ghana ends lockdown
ACCRA: While some Ghanaians were relieved to get back to work Monday, others were left fretting after the country became the first in Africa to lift a coronavirus lockdown. The streets of Accra buzzed with life following President Nana Akufo-Addo’s announcement of the end to a three-week restriction on movement around the capital and second region Kumasi.
Akufo-Addo told the nation in a televised address that increased testing, aggressive contact tracing and expanded isolation centers allowed him to halt measures that hit the country’s poor hard. “This decision to restrict movement has occasioned a number of severe difficulties for all of us across the country, especially for the poor and vulnerable,” the president said.
Jemima Adwoa Anim was overjoyed to be back out hawking her wares as pedestrians and cars returned to Accra’s Central Business District. “It is a huge reprieve. We have a listening government,” she said. “It was like a war situation; we had no money and at the same time couldn’t step out to work to earn some cash. God bless our president.” But around the capital there was plenty of criticism for the decision to ease restrictions after the West African country saw confirmed infections rise to 1,042.
“This is totally ridiculous. How is it possible?” asked 20-year-old student Francis Collison. “We just recorded over 1,000 positive cases of COVID-19 and suddenly the president decided to lift the partial lockdown.” Shopkeeper Rita Baido insisted she was not happy with the decision but had “no option” but to open her store and try to make money in the suburb of Mallam. “It has not been easy indoors, but I think it was the best solution to keep us safe,” she said.
Balancing act
Ghana’s decision to lift the lockdown on the two key regions will be watched closely across Africa. Authorities on the continent are grappling with a difficult balancing act: how to curb the spread of the virus while allowing millions living in poverty to earn money and feed themselves. The Ghanaian government insists that a decision to quarantine arrivals from abroad and bolster testing to more than 68,000 samples gives it a strong hand in controlling the pandemic.
The country’s borders remain closed and measures shuttering schools and limiting public gatherings are still in force. But some working in the health sector said Ghanawidely seen as a model of political stability in a volatile region-was risking any progress by lifting the lockdown. “The president has been on top of issues since coronavirus entered Ghana but last night’s decision to lift the restriction on movement eroded all the gains we’re making,” said nurse Abigail Sosu. “I’m scared. We don’t have the resources should a second phase of the virus emerge in the country.” — AFP