Accra comes to life as Ghana lifts coronavirus lockdown

After three weeks, Ghana became the first African nation to lift a coronavirus lockdown on its two biggest cities, Accra and Kumasi.

President Akufo-Addo on Monday defended the decision of government to lift the partial lockdown. He announced the lifting on Sunday April 19, at a time cases had surpassed 1,000 and a number of people expected an extension.

Non-essential businesses will now be allowed to open while the wearing of masks is encouraged. But there are still bans on large gatherings and schools will remain closed. Economic activity returned to the areas in earnest as at Monday morning.

A lockdown of the two worst affected metropolitan areas and a third known as Kasoa in the Central region had been in place since March 30, 2020.

The president during a meeting with members of the Ghana Medical Association, GMA, said that data on testing and contact tracing along with treatment of confirmed cases informed the decision announced on Sunday.

As of April 22, Ghana’s case stats stood at 1,154 cases of which 120 had recovered with nine deaths.