Ghana’s government has decided to extend the border closure period until April 19, as the novel Coronavirus continues to spread.
The previously imposed ban on foreign citizens which was set to expire on April 5, has been extended by the government after 313 cases of COVID-19 infection were reported in the country. The increasing number of infections pushed the government to postpone the border closure for 14 days to contain the spread of the virus, VisaGuide.World reports.
Exempt from this move will be the transportation of goods, as well as the returning citizens and internationals with Ghana’s residence permits. The foreign citizens returning to the country will be subject to two weeks of mandatory quarantine.
Besides the entry ban, Ghana has also introduced a range of measures in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. The measures include quarantine and isolation of persons who contracted the infection. Public events have also been prohibited.
The country’s borders have been shut while lockdowns have been imposed in Tema and Kasoa as well.
Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area have been previously put under lockdown by competent authorities. Furthermore, Ghana suspended the inter-city travel for commercial or private purposes, except for emergency cases.
As of yet, six persons who tested positive for the virus have died, while two persons are in serious critical condition.
The country also imposed a new law, which was approved by the parliament two weeks ago. Under the new law have been imposed many of these measures, but the minority party parliamentarians opposed the new law.
A total of 1,529,360 persons worldwide have been infected by the deadly virus while the death toll rose to 89,415.
As yet, more than 337,161 persons who had contracted the virus, have been totally recovered.
The majority of cases have been reported in the US (435,160), Spain (152,446) and Italy (139,422).