Coronavirus: We’ll continue to provide relief - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians his administration will intensify the implementation of the four-point national strategy on formalisation to facilitate the identification and provision of support, relief and stimulus packages to businesses and workers in these difficult times.

The president also assured organised labour that the government will continue to deepen its engagement with them, as we try to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the economy, businesses and jobs.

He gave the assurances when he addressed a closed-door May Day celebration on Friday, May 1, 2020.

He urged Ghanaians to continue to sacrifice so that we do not have to bear a greater cost in the future. All sections of society must see this sacrifice as a common effort to defeat this common enemy.

The president said, "steps at increasing further our testing capacity have been taken, with the coming on stream of the Veterinary Laboratory in Accra, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research Laboratory also in Accra, the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho, and the Veterinary Laboratory in Pong-Tamale, to aid the labours of the Noguchi Research Institute, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, and the National Public Health Reference Laboratory at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital."

He added, "A number of isolation, quarantine and treatment facilities have also been identified across the country for use. The nation is profoundly grateful to the Church of Pentecost for the generous, Christian gesture of making available its multipurpose Convention Centre, at Gomoa Fetteh, as an isolation centre which can house over one thousand (1,000) persons and three hundred (300) medical staff.”

He continued: "It is important for every Ghanaian to note that the more people we test for the virus, the more persons we will discover as positive, and, thus, have the opportunity to isolate and treat them. The implementation of this strategy of tracing, testing and treating is our surest way of rooting out the virus.

As I have stated, time and again, all the measures put in place to combat the spread of the disease are under constant review, and Government will not hesitate to cordon, impose a curfew, trace, test, and treat persons in communities where we are witnessing the significant spread of infections.

I will continue to urge all of us to continue to practice social distancing, wash our hands with soap under running water, refrain from shaking hands, and, wear our masks whenever we leave our homes. Businesses and other workplaces should operate, and observe staff management and workplace protocols of social distancing. This applies equally forcefully to public transport operators and users of our market places. We must observe these measures religiously, as they are the weapons of our battle against the virus.”