The defense of the lifting of the lockdown order by President Nana Addo Dankwa and the call by the National House of Chiefs on Ghanaians to join hands to win the Covid-19 war dominate the headlines of Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Ghanaian Times reported that President Nana Addo has defended his decision to lift the partial lockdown, saying that it was done based on scientific decision when he met the National Chief Imam Sheikh Nuhu Sharubutu and other Muslim leaders in Accra to explain to them why Mosques and Churches were still closed in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The newspaper also reported that the Nogouchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana, Legon, says it has upgraded its facilities that will enable it clear the backlog of samples that remain to be tested for coronavirus in the country.
It quoted the Head of Virology of the Institute, Professor William Ampofo, as saying that some 30,000 samples have been tested by the Institute in the last three days, adding that the excesses would determine the rate of the spread of the virus in Ghana.
The state-owned Daily Graphic reported that the President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV, has said that chiefs in the country consider Coronavirus pandemic as “a war” which Ghana has waged and must win at all cost no matter the obstacles.
The newspaper quoted Togbe Afede as saying that the National House of Chiefs has directed all chiefs to suspend all festivals and follow the preventive protocols of the pandemic as directed by health experts and President Nana Addo in particular to fight “the invisible enemy”.
It added that Togbe Afede commended President Nana Addo, when he and his delegations met President Nana Addo at Jubilee House in Accra, for taking the bold decision in lifting the partial lockdown imposed on Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa due to low infection rate of 1.5 percent of Covid -19.
The Graphic also reported that the local companies contracted by the government to produce personal protective equipment to help contain the spread of the virus have given assurance of delivering the items by the middle of May, which is the deadline given by the government.
DAP/GIK/APA