Wearing of face mask to be enforced to the letter - Akufo-Addo

The enforcement on the wearing of face masks at public places in the country is set to be intensified with those found flouting the protocol punished, Ghana's president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

Expressing his worry over the low compliance rate in the wearing of face masks at public places, the president reminded Ghanaians that the wearing of face masks remained mandatory.

"It is extremely troubling to note that the high compliance rate with mask wearing has fallen alarmingly. The wearing of masks in public places, fellow Ghanaians, continues to be mandatory. There are no exceptions to this rule, and strict conformity with this protocol will be enforced. Anyone found to be flouting this directive will have him or herself to blame. We cannot afford to allow the recklessness of a few to endanger the lives of the majority of persons in the country," the president cautioned.

President Akufo-Addo also noted that the country cannot afford to undergo another partial lockdown and must therefore strive to contain the situation.

"Fellow Ghanaians, it is obvious from the data that we have let our guard down, with many going about their daily duties in clear breach and disregard for the protocols. At a time when the economy is on the rebound, and business activities picking up, we must do everything possible to contain this outbreak. We cannot afford to return to the days of partial lockdowns, which brought considerable hardships and difficulties for all of us," he added.

The president gave this caution during his 26th address of the nation Sunday, July 25, 2021, on the outbreak of coronavirus since March 2020.

He disclosed that per the data from the Ghana Health Service, the nation appeared to be experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections which he said was "largely driven by the Delta Variant of the virus," resulting in increased infections and even deaths.

The president in providing the numbers stated:

"Indeed, in Update No.25, the last update I rendered, our total active case count stood at one thousand, three hundred and fourteen (1,314), with our daily infection rate standing at one hundred (100). One million, one hundred and twenty-one thousand, one hundred and sixty-eight (1,121,168) COVID tests had been conducted, out of which ninety-two thousand, four hundred and sixty (92,460) persons had been infected, ninety-one thousand, one hundred and forty-six (91,146) persons had recovered, with a total of eight hundred and twenty-three (823) deaths."

"As at Wednesday, 21st July 2021, ten (10) weeks later, the Ghana Health Service is now reporting that our total number of active cases stands at four thousand and ninety-four (4,094). A total of one million, three hundred and ninety-four thousand, five hundred and forty (1,394,540) tests have been conducted, out of which one hundred and one thousand, one hundred and seventy (101,170) persons have been infected with the virus, and ninety-six thousand, two hundred and fifty-five (96,255) persons have recovered. Our daily infection rate is ……… and, sadly, thirty-six (36) more people have died from COVID over the last ten (10) weeks, bringing the cumulative number of deaths to eight hundred and twenty-three (823) since the onset of the pandemic.

"Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas remain the hotspots of infections. This entire development is very alarming, especially as we are being told by officials of the Ghana Health Service, that the recovery rate is on the decline."