Five more persons have died of COVID-19 in Ghana, making the death toll 16 on April 28, 2020, according to latest report from the Ghana Health Service.

Addressing the press in Accra on Tuesday, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said Ghana’s case count now stands at 1,671.

The number of recovered persons stand at 188 and are yet to be discharged.Six are critically ill, he said.

The regional breakdown of the cases are as follows:null

Greater Accra Region – 1,433

Ashanti Region – 84null

Eastern Region – 57null

Upper East Region – 18

Oti Region – 17

Central Region – 17

Northern Region – 13

Volta Region – 11

Western Region – 9

Upper West Region – 8

COMPULSORY MASKS

The wearing of masks is now compulsory for commercial drivers, food vendors and other selected group of individuals, according to the Ministry of Health.

The directive is part of government’s effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 in Ghana.

In a statement, the Health Minister said face mask should be used in all public places where social distancing will be difficult.

“The Minister of Health hereby directs the use of face masks in all public places where it may be difficult to maintain social distancing. The general public is encouraged to wear mask or face covering when going out whether sick or not or attending to a sick person. Incorrect use of face mask carries a high risk of infection,” the directive said.

It added: “The following groups or persons are required at all times to wear masks: Food vendors and sellers at markets, commercial vehicle drivers and attendants, commuters on public transports, persons in public and commercial centres, facilities and buildings including but not limited to offices, bars, workshops, restaurants, sports arenas and spas, saloons, shopping malls, churches, clinics and hospitals and all other facilities accessible to the public whether privately or publicly owned”.

Source: reportghana.com

A 45-year old man, King David has been arrested by the Awutu Breku Police for selling a Coronavirus prevention cream.

Kind David was arrested by the Police at Awutu Breku after he advertised and sold his “magic cream” in a vehicle he branded with the inscription “Coronavirus Preventive Cream”. The vehicle also had his contact details and address inscribed on it.

The Awutu Breku District Police Commander, Superintendent Joshua Semanyo told journalists that his outfit received intelligence that a man was in town claiming to have a Coronavirus prevention medicine. He confirmed the arrest to journalists after Police acted on the intelligence.

Superintendent Semanyo said “I sent my district patrol team to look for him in town and eventually they had him and brought him. We are yet to find out whether his claim is true or not and that is where we are now.”

Police said the man is currently under investigation and had been referred to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigations.

The man in question however had licenses which point to the fact that he is a licensed herbal doctor but Police say they have doubts about him having a Coronavirus prevention medicine.

Source: straightnewsonline.com

The Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Dome-Kwabenya constituency, David Obiri Yeboah has accused the constituency secretary of printing an album without authorization.

The NPP’s executive says the album which was printed was exhibited to have delegates in the constituency check their names as the party readies to organize its parliamentary primaries.

Mr. Yeboah, who is supporting the bid of the incumbent MP, lawyer Sarah Adwoa Safo told Kwabena Agyapong on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm claiming the secretary and some other party executives formed an election committee, printed the album and held an exhibition for delegates to check their names despite the suspension of all party activities following the ban on social gatherings.

David Obiri Yeboah said the decision led to confrontations between the supporters of the incumbent MP and the contender, Mike Oquaye Junior who he said is being supported by the secretary and other executives.

He further alleged that the secretary asked the 18 coordinators in the constituency to sign the album. However, one of them has taken custody of the album.

He said the album will not be the one to be used for the election and any attempt to have the names of delegates deleted from it would be fiercely contested.

“Nobody has the right to delete the name of any delegate from the album,” he stressed.

The NPP organizer opined delegates and residents in the area are rooting for the incumbent MP due to what he described as a ”remarkable achievement”.null

The MP he explained has become the favourite of the people hence it would be prudent for the party to file her as the candidate in the 2020 parliamentary race.

He said he has decided to support the MP because he is of the view she remains the best for the party.

However, for some personal interest, some of the party leaders in the constituency including the secretary are trying to thwart the efforts to make the incumbent win, he asserted.

When asked why party leaders are supporting candidates in the upcoming primaries he said, he cannot be neutral but can only be fair. Despite being an executive, “I have taken a stance to support the MP. The secretary has decided to support Oquaye Junior. If you think someone is capable of winning and support the person, there is nothing wrong with it. I think Adjoa Safo will win and that is why I have decided to support her.”

He also underscored the need for women in parliament to be retained since they are few.

The MP he added has demonstrated that women are capable and competent when given the nod.

Source: reportghana.con

Nigeria will begin a “gradual easing” of coronavirus-related lockdowns in the federal capital territory of Abuja, and Lagos and Ogun states from May 4, 2020.

The lockdowns had been due to end on Monday night, but President Muhammadu Buhari said they needed to continue. 

He also ordered new nationwide measures against Covid-19, including a night-time curfew and mandatory face masks. 

The moves would ensure the economy functioned “while still maintaining our aggressive response”, Mr Buhari said. 

Earlier, workers at a construction site in Lagos rioted in protest at the lockdown. 

A police spokesman said the workers at the Lekki Free Trade zone – including those at the oil refinery of billionaire Aliko Dangote – went on the rampage and injured several officers in the area. Fifty-one people were arrested, he added.

There are reports that the protesters were angry that some foreign nationals were allowed to go to work at the site. 

Nigeria, Africa’s most-populous nation and largest economy, has reported 1,273 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 40 deaths. 

In a televised address on Monday night, Mr Buhari acknowledged that the lockdowns in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun had “come at a very heavy economic cost” since they began on 30 March. 

“Many of our citizens have lost their means of livelihood. Many businesses have shut down,” he said. 

He added: “No country can afford the full impact of a sustained lockdown while awaiting the development of vaccines.”

The president said there would therefore be a “phased and gradual easing” of the lockdowns next Monday to allow some economic activities to resume.

But to limit the spread of Covid-19, he announced that the government would impose a curfew across the country between 20:00 and 06:00, require everyone to wear face masks in public, and stop “non-essential inter-state passenger travel”.

Bans on social and religious gatherings will also remain in place.

Mr Buhari also expressed deep concern over the unexplained deaths of a number of people in the northern state of Kano.

He said a lockdown would be imposed there for two weeks with immediate effect and that he was sending a government team to investigate.

Source: bbc.com

Renowned marriage counselor, life coach and relationship expert Kwaku Adumatah, popularly known as Uncle Adumatah, has come out strongly to advise married women, specifically Christians, facing marital abuses, to divorce their husbands and save their lives.

In an interview with Owurayere Nanapani Arhin, host of the Obasima show on Onua FM, Uncle Adumatah said no Christian woman should allow an abusive man to trade or exchange the happiness of the marriage for bitterness, violence or perhaps death.

“You have to leave,” he emphasized.

He went on to say it is better to divorce an abusive man than staying in an abusive marriage, which will possibly end up one’s life.

Counselor Adumatah ended by saying life is precious so marriage must be enjoyed but must not be endured when it’s extremely abusive.

Source: 3 News

The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nartey George has vowed to exhaust all options to bring the Electoral Commission of Ghana down in their legal battle.

He said he will fight the Commission to the bitter end, adding, “what happened at the City Escape hotel is a breach of the law…nobody can justify it.”

Speaking on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM, the lawmaker said it’s shameful for the EC Boss, who is well versed in the law to be involved in such illegality.

“If she knew that what she was doing was right why would she conspire with the hotel to lock the gates to give the impression that nothing was happening there. Even when we called the Police in they refused to allow them in until a detachment was dispatched,” he told host Kweku Owusu Adjei.

Samuel Nartey George is considering filing contempt charges against the Electoral Commission (EC) for holding such a workshop in his constituency despite a court injunction.

On April 24, the MP secured an injunction, restraining the Electoral Commission from holding the workshop in his constituency. 

The ex-parte injunction, granted by the Tema High Court, took effect from Friday, April, 24 to Monday, April 27, 2020. 

But the EC allegedly defied the court order not to hold the said workshop for directors and deputy directors and culminated in a protest by supporters of the NDC at the City Escape Hotel who’d besieged the venue.

Source: Kasapa FM

The Africa Centre for Health Policy (ACeHP) has advised the government to complete abandoned health projects before constructing new ones.

President Nana Akufo-Addo recently announced that his government will be constructing 88 new hospitals in some districts across the country beginning this year. 

Commenting on the announcement to Citi News, the Executive Director of the Centre, Ahmed Farhan noted that, “Though we have had a backlog of uncompleted or completed but not commissioned health facilities, we still have a vacuum created by the nonexistence of some of these facilities. If we have this number of facilities coming on board, it will augment the situation.”

But in the short term, he indicated that “the issue is that once you have facilities that are uncompleted, it will be appropriate that we go back and look at those.”

Touching on the distribution on face masks, the Africa Centre for Health Policy advised the government to distribute them in densely populated areas.

“You look at densely populated areas and areas that are recording more cases of COVID-19 compared with areas that are not recording more cases so that you can direct more of the face masks to areas that are densely populated and areas that are hotspots.”

Regional hospitals, Infectious disease control centres 

President Nana Akufo-Addo also reiterated the government’s plans to build regional hospitals in the six new regions.In the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, President Akufo-Addo also noted that work will soon commence on three infectious disease control centres for each of the zones of the country to improve Ghana’s testing capacities with regards to contagious illnesses.

“We are going to beef up our existing laboratories and establish new ones across every region for testing. We will establish three infectious disease control centres for each of the zones of our country, i.e. Coastal, Middle Belt and Northern, with the overall objective of setting up a Ghana Centre for Disease Control.”

“The recent, tragic CSM outbreak, with over 40 deaths, has reaffirmed the need for ready access to such infectious disease control centres, even though, in our time, nobody should die of the disease.”

Source: Kojo Agyeman | citinewsroom.com | Ghana

The First Gentleman of the land, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo on Sunday 06 April 2020 announced that starting from April 2020, Ghanaian Coronavirus frontline workers such as healthcare professionals will receive 3 months’ tax break and 50% increment in their basic salary.

ReportGhana’s email box has been full of complaints as numerous frontline doctors and nurses who have received their payslips and salary alerts have expressed their disappointment to Reportghana.Com after the 50% salary increment President Akufo Addo promised fails to materialize.

Some angry Ghana health professionals who sent us email have confirmed to us that, the said promise has not been materialized and therefore pleads on the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) which remains the authorized body for the payment of government workers to do so.

Meanwhile, Ghana has extended a ban on social gatherings for another two weeks, effective the wee hours of Monday, April 26, 2020, to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. The ban, introduced on March 15, for a 14-day period was renewed on April 13, 2020.

The First Gentleman of the land, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo on Sunday 06 April 2020 announced that starting from April 2020, Ghanaian Coronavirus frontline workers such as healthcare professionals will receive 3 months’ tax break and 50% increment in their basic salary.

The BBC Ghana’s email box has been full of complaints as numerous frontline doctors and nurses who have received their payslips and salary alerts have expressed their disappointment to TheBBCghana.Com after the 50% salary increment President Akufo Addo promised fails to materialize.

Some angry Ghana health professionals who sent us email have confirmed to us that, the said promise has not been materialized and therefore pleads on the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) which remains the authorized body for the payment of government workers to do so.

Meanwhile, Ghana has extended a ban on social gatherings for another two weeks, effective the wee hours of Monday, April 26, 2020, to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. The ban, introduced on March 15, for a 14-day period was renewed on April 13, 2020.

Source: reportghana.com

• As it stands Ghana has 1550 infected cases and 11 death with 155 recoveries. He said in his updates that Greater Accra has reported more cases in this pandemic. He also thank the media for their great work done during this period.
• He encourage each and everyone to continue to use the face masks, practice social distancing and also continue to follow the restricted protocols which are put in places. He has added two restrictions

▪️ 2 Weeks Extension on social and public gatherings

to all the initial restrictions protocols. Anyone who tries to enter the country illegally will be dealt with be it a Ghanaian or not.

• More and more hospitals are going to be constructed in the various regions to help fight some of these kinds of diseases. Nana Addo says he is now going to construct 88 District hospitals in the country .

Government has decided to undertake a major investment in our health care system.

We will undertake the construction of 88 new hospitals across the country. Each will be a quality, standard design 100-bed facility – President@NAkufoAddo_

• He went on to encourage all Muslims to stay home and pray during their Ramadan festival and very soon things will get much better.

Source: manuelnewsgh.com

A 21-year-old Student has been remanded by Koforidua Circuit Court ‘B’ for inflicting a deep wound on the face of his rival over a Senior High School student.

The victim,Philip Ahiable, a resident of Koforidua Asokore and the accused -Enoch Odonkor, a Level 200 Information Communication Technology student of Koforidua Technical University staying at Nsukwao were fighting over a second-year General Arts student of Ghana Senior High School whom they are both in love with.

On April 21, 2020 at about 8:00 am, the victim Philip Ahiable called the accused person Enock Odonkor on phone to rain insult and warned him to stay away from the girl.

Same day about 2:00 pm,the accused visited the girl at Asokore Kuma, a suburb community of New Juaben North Municipality.

The victim who lives in the same area confronted and strongly warned Odonkor not to visit the girl again. This nearly resulted in a fight between them.null

Later in the evening, Enoch Odonkor concealed a small paper cutter in his pocket and visited the girl lover again.

Philip Ahiable who was spying confronted him again which led to a fight, Enoch Odonkor then pulled the paper cutter from his pocket and slashed the face of his rival.null

The victim who suffered deep wound was rushed to the Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua while bleeding profusely. Though responding to treatment, he is yet to be discharged.null

A complaint was lodged at Effiduase Police Station which Police proceeded to arrest the suspect and detained him.

Preliminary investigation by Police has revealed that Enock Donkor was the first to propose to the girl a month ago which she accepted his proposal but later accepted that of the victim Philip Ahiable too.

Enoch Odonkor has been charged for causing harm.

The Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Owusu Ababio prayed the Court Presided over by Her Honour Mercy Addei Kotei to remand the accused to enable Police to take a statement from the victim from his Hospital bed.

The Court granted the request by the prosecution and adjourned the case to May 8, 2020.

Source: reportghana.com