COVID-19: Akufo-Addo extends border closure till May 31

President Nana Akufo-Addo has announced that the country’s borders will remain shut for another month, following the increasing coronavirus cases in the country.

The extension comes into effect on Monday, May 4, and will last until the end of the month on May 31.

“With the suspension of all public gatherings still in force and our schools still closed, the government has taken the decision to extend further the closure of borders for a month effective 1 am of May 4 until Sunday, May 31, 2020,” he said at the virtual celebration of this year’s May Day broadcast online.

He continued,” We know that the overwhelming majority of positive cases came from travellers or contacts of travellers, so we have no option than to keep our borders closed until we are confident that we have put in place measures to prevent travellers from importing the virus.”

Ghana bans entry of travellers from coronavirus-hit countries

The country was shut and international travel was curtailed on Sunday, March 22, more than a week after the country recorded its first cases.

Since then, the government has permitted only cargo and repatriation flights requested by diplomatic missions, as the country battles the coronavirus that has attacked 2,074 people with 212 recovering full and 17 patients perishing.

With cases rising each day, the President finds it prudent to cut off the country to the outside world as it combines other measures to ensure that the disease is defeated.

Meanwhile, domestic flights are expected to commence on May 1 after a partial lockdown was lifted more than a week ago for businesses to commence operations while adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols.

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