The Government of Ghana says it has safely lifted many of the oppressive restrictions it placed on the citizenry followingthe widespread of covid-19 in the country.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the emergency is over hence the public can go back to their normal lives.
Addressing the nation on Sunday, he said "Fellow Ghanaians, throughout these trying times, I kept urging all of you to believe that this, too, shall pass. Dare I say that this too has passed?"
"The emergency is over, and we can safely lift many of the oppressive restrictions we have had to endure, we can shake hands, we can hug, we can visit, and we no longer have to wear masks"
He howevernot that though there is a safe lifting of many of the restrictions, it is strongly recommended that populace keep some of the measures imposed during the crisis and integrate them into their everyday lives.
President Akufo-Addo urged citizens to continue with the regular hand washing and other personal hygiene measures, so it becomes entrenched national habits.
"There has been a dramatic decrease in diarrhoea diseases, and we have not had any cholera outbreaks these past three years – these developments are attributable mostly to the hand washing and improved hygiene regimen in our communities."
"It does not hurt to wear a mask if you have a cold for example, it might protect those around you. If you are uncomfortable in a crowded and enclosed space, go out into the open and continue the new ways we have devised for outside entertainment. I hope there will be no argument that we should continue and institutionalize the periodic cleansing, disinfection and fumigation of markets. Never again should our markets be breeding grounds for rodents"
"There are other ways in which this nightmare has brought some good dividends that must be acknowledged.
It has led to the strengthening of our disease surveillance system, and this has been manifested in recent months by our ability to deal, in a very rapid and aggressive way, with outbreaks of frightening diseases like Marburg, Lassa fever, Monkey Pox, before they could turn into serious public health catastrophes"
He noted that the pandemic also exposed some of the painful deficiencies Ghana has, and forced it to take some brave and necessary decisions, such as expansion of its network of health facilities under Agenda 111.
"I doubt very much that, but for the pandemic, the network of health laboratories with capacity to do PCR testing in our country would have expanded exponentially from the initial 2 to 67 laboratories nationwide"
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith