Lockdown: Mad rush for free food at Kwame Nkrumah Circle

There was chaos and pandemonium at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle on Wednesday, April 8 when an NGO stormed the VIP lorry station to provide free food for some homeless and vulnerable persons there.

Managers of the NGO, like many organizations, were trying to compliment the government’s effort of providing daily meals to the less privilege in society but their actions could inadvertently plunge the country into danger as beneficiaries of the food defied the social distancing directive in the attempt to get served their portion of the food.

Throughout the week, GhanaWeb has been visiting some deprived parts of Accra to see how the majority of the residents there are coping with the lockdown measure instituted by the government to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease.

On Wednesday, the GhanaWeb team arrived at the Nkrumah Circle and saw to their dismay hordes of people, rushing dangerously, to receive packaged food.

Overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who had queued up to be fed, the donors tried to bring some orderliness but to no avail.

There was an absolute disregard for the social distancing initiative, with the Police personnel present trying unsuccessfully to contain the rather wild crowd.

The cramp-up nature of the exercise poses a grave danger, knowing that the coronavirus disease is primarily transmitted from close contact with an infected person.

Ghana’s coronavirus case count

Yesterday, one more person was confirmed dead in Ghana after contracting Coronavirus, bringing the death toll to six (6), according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

While details of the deceased, however, is unknown there has been an increase in the total number of cases as 26 new cases have been confirmed. The case count now stands at 313.

The regional distribution of the cases, according to GHS are: "Greater Accra Region has most cases (274) followed by the Ashanti Region (25), Northern Region (10), Upper West Region (1), Eastern Region (1), Upper East Region (1) and Central Region (1)."

It adds that: "A total of 161 cases were reported from the routine surveillance, 37 from enhanced surveillance activities and those from travellers under mandatory quarantine in both Accra and Tamale are 115.

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