Ghana’s active COVID-19 case count has for the past weeks witnessed a continuous decline.

Acknowledging this in his 16th Address to the nation on the measures taken by government to combat the spread of the virus in the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the continuous decline in the numbers was a result of the effectiveness of government policies, the co-operation of the Ghanaian people and the grace of God.

The president speaking on the numbers said, “the number of active cases continues to be on the decline. At the time of my last address, two weeks ago, the total number of active cases, that is persons currently with the virus, stood at one thousand, eight hundred and forty-seven (1,847) persons. As at Friday, 28th August, the number of active cases has reduced to one thousand, and fifty-nine (1,059) persons. A total of forty-two thousand, nine hundred and sixty-three (42,963) persons have recovered, and two hundred and seventy-six (276) persons, a great majority of them with underlying illnesses, such as hypertension, diabetes and chronic liver disease, have sadly died.”

The president further stated that with this notwithstanding, there still remains the need for the people of Ghana to be vigilant in ensuring safety against the virus.

“I have been reliably informed that, in some regions of our country where there are no active cases, some residents are abandoning, altogether, the protocols, such as the wearing of masks, put in place to defeat the virus. Indeed, the high compliance rate with mask wearing of persons surveyed by the Ghana Health Service in some selected areas of Accra, to which I referred optimistically in my last address, has according to a new survey by the same Service, fallen alarmingly. This is not acceptable, as the enhanced hygiene, mask wearing and social distancing protocols must now be central features of our lives, and they must continue to remain so for some time to come until we see to the elimination of the virus from our country.”

President Akufo-Addo further emphasised the existence of legal consequences for persons who continue to disregard safety protocols, stating that law enforcement agencies will not hesitate to apply the law where necessary.

“Let me remind those amongst us who want to continue to disregard these protocols, that severe sanctions exist in our laws for such persons who will want to endanger the rest of the population through their actions and negligence. The law enforcement agencies will, where necessary, apply these measures without fear or favour, ill-will or malice, and without recourse to a person’s ethnicity, gender or religion,” he said.