The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, GPHA, has suspended all high-risk ships that berth at the Tema and Takoradi ports, port tours by schools and academic internship.
This is part of measures set by the Authority to help prevent the continuous spread of the deadly Coronavirus in Ghana.
Currently, 7 persons in Ghana have tested positive for COVID-19, after they travelled into the country from various places.
In a statement cited by citibusinessnews.com, the General Manager in charge of Marketing and Corporate Affairs of the Authority, Esther Gyebi-Donkor, said the Authority in consultation with agents of cruise vessels have been advised to postpone all cruise ships scheduled to berth at the Ports of Tema and Takoradi.
“The Port Authority is liaising with shipping agents to identify all high-risk vessels that may be coming into the country for the necessary precautionary action to be taken. Already, the Authority, in consultation with agents of cruise vessels has advised the postponement of all cruise ships scheduled to take berth at the Ports of Tema and Takoradi respectively and assures the general public that all other high-risk vessels will be treated with the same urgency”.
“Among other things, the Authority is calling on all prospective students who wish to undertake their internship with the Port Authority to avoid coming to the offices seeking such opportunities for health and safety reasons as ‘the window is suspended until further notice.”
“Again, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, visits to patients admitted to our Health facilities in Tema and Takoradi will be strictly regulated and urge family members and loved ones to bear with the medical teams while they do their utmost best to care diligently for the patients under their care,” the statement added.
Stricter measures needed to deal with Coronavirus
A former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa is advocating for a more far-reaching measures from government with regards to international travels and internal movements in order to tackle the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ghana.
He said it will be better for the country to assume that it has reached a level of community infection and escalate the country’s response mechanisms to correspond with the situation.
President Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday, March 15, 2020 announced new public gathering advisories to check the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
But Prof. Badu Akosa said more stringent directives must be given by the government to help the country contain and deal with the virus.
“I don’t think that [the current directives] will be enough. It needs to be more far-reaching and it is important that we do it at this stage because if we allow one community infection, as far as I am concerned, that will be the trigger…I think that the best scenario is to assume we have community infection and seriously think about the next move,” he said.