214 CONFIRMED CASES, 5 DEATHS, 49 DISCHARGED, 3 FULL RECOVERIES OF COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN GHANA

NEWS SITUATION TRACKING

214 CONFIRMED CASES, 5 DEATHS, 49 DISCHARGED, 3 FULL RECOVERIES OF COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN GHANA

Location: Ghana Issue: COVID-19 Disease recorded in Ghana

Issue: COVID-19 Disease recorded in Ghana

Date: MARCH 12th to April 5th, 2020

COMMUNITY PROFILING

Population: The current population of Ghana is 30,875,999 as of Sunday, March 15, 2020, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.1

Basic Demography and Geography of Hotspots: Ghana lies in the center of the Gulf of Guinea coast, 2,420 km of land borders with three countries: Burkina Faso (602 km) to the north, Ivory Coast (720 km) to the west, and Togo (1,098 km) to the east. To the south are the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Ethnicity: There are over 100 ethnic groups living in Ghana. Akan 45.3%, Mole-Dagbon 15.2%, Ewe 11.7%, Ga-Dangme 7.3%, Guan 4%, Gurma 3.6%, Grusi 2.6%, Mande-Busanga 1%, other tribes 1.4%, other 7.8% (Ghana Statistical Service, Census 2000)

Significance of the State: Although relatively small in area and population, Ghana is one of the leading countries of Africa, partly because it was the first black African country south of the Sahara to achieve independence from colonial rule and regarded as a bastion of democracy in West

CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS

Direct Actors: • The Corona Virus

Affected Persons:

• 214 persons affected so far, 3 recovered, 5 dead, 49 persons discharged

Interested Actors:

• The Ghana Police Service, National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO)
• The Ghana Armed Forces,
• National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO),
• Ministry of Works and Housing,
• Ministry of Information,
• Sanitation Ministry
• Interior Ministry

INCIDENT PROFILING

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019 and recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.4

The Government of Ghana, through the Consolidated Fund and Donor Partner Fund sources, has set aside $100 million, as part of preparations towards the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. 5

The confirmation of the first two cases led to a domino-effect-situation in which several institutions and organizations cancelled planned activities (Ghana Armed Forces Open day6 ), shut down facilities (German Swiss International School7 , Ghana International School (GIS)8 , IMF Ghana office9 ) and diplomatic missions (Norwegian10, Canadian High Commission, Netherlands11). Africa.

Ghana’s growing economic prosperity and democratic political system have made it a regional power in West Africa.

Economy: Currency: Ghanaian cedi GDP: 47.33 billionUSD GDP per capita: 1,641.49 USD GNI per capita: 4,490 PPP dollars GDP growth rate: 8.5% annual change Internet users: 14.1% of the population GNI: 129.4 billion PPP dollars (All World Bank figures)

Politics: Ghana is a unitary constitutional democracy with a president who is both head of state and head of the government. Ghana has a multi-party system, However, there are two dominant political parties (the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party)

Religion: Christians 68.8% (Pentecostal / Charismatic 24.1%, Protestant 18.6%, Catholic 15.1%, other 11%), (2000 census)2 Muslim 15.9%, Traditional 8.5%, other 0.7%, none 6.1% (2000 census)3

• Members of Parliament
• Civil Society Organizations
• Embassies and High Commissions
• Schools
• All hospitals
• Ministry of Health
• National Commission for Civic Education
• The Immigration Service
• Churches

Between March 12 th and 31st , 161 cases had been confirmed, 3 full recoveries made, 49 persons12 have been discharged and 5 deaths recorded. This meant that 153 cases were still being managed.

Between 1st April to 5 th April, an additional 53 cases have been added, raising the confirmed case count to 214 and the live case count to 206. No new deaths and full recoveries have been reported yet.

Currently, the Greater Accra (189), Eastern (1), Ashanti (12), Northern (10), Upper West (1) and Upper East (1) Regions are those with officially reported cases. Source: Ghana Health Service

RESPONSES

• The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, has given directives to shut down all public gatherings, schools and travels. Citizens have been advised to take their hygiene seriously.
• Again, restriction has been placed on movement of persons in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA, which includes Awutu Senya East), and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and contiguous districts, for a period of two (2) weeks starting from Monday, March 20, 2020. Generally, all air and sea ports as well as borders have been closed down to reduce the spread of the disease.
• Confirmed cases are being managed in isolation while contacts have been enlisted and tracked by the Ghana Health Service.
• Mandatory quarantine measures have been put in place for persons coming into Ghana. Citizens have been advised to stay home as well as social distancing to cut down on the spread.13
• Government, through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), launched a national disinfection and sensitizing programme for markets and market women across the country as part of measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.14
• The private sector, particularly some notable individuals, faith-based organizations and other generous organizations have supported the government by donating logistics e.g. coveralls, nose masks, N95 Respirators, face shields, goggles, aprons, examination gloves, heavy-duty gloves, gumboots and hand sanitizers to bolster effort to mitigate the spread of the virus.
• External actors, especially WHO and IMF have provided support to Government’s effort to mitigate the spread of the pandemic in Ghana. The IMF is providing $100 million to assist the Government in tackling the pandemic.15 Risk Analysis
• The impact of national transmission could be high in Ghana, especially if healthcare capacity is exceeded or if a large number of healthcare workers are infected. The impact also on vulnerable groups could be very high, particularly the elderly. The situation could further be compounded where there is limited number of ventilators available in health institutions if the trends in increased cases of COVID-19 continues.
• The lockdown measures introduced by the government has led to panic buying, as consumers rush to markets to buy essential goods including food products, water and soaps. This has the potential to affect food security in the country, with significant impact on household consumption, especially among vulnerable populations including low income populations. In addition to this, the lockdown is likely to affect economic activities, especially small and medium scale industries. This would lead to job cuts and increase in unemployment rate in the country, with significant impact on the affected populations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• The Government should consider mass testing. This has become necessary because of the confirmed cases from routine surveillance, and also the nature of the virus as well as the fact that carriers of the virus may not show visible symptoms.
• The Government should continue to strengthen coordination of responses at the national, regional and local levels through robust inter-agency collaboration and partnership with the civil society.
• Information dissemination to sensitize the public on personal safety and hygiene is imperative. To achieve this, the Government should strengthen partnership with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), civil society organizations, local NGOs, the media, traditional authority and religious institutions. This should further be utilized in enforcing the measures initiated by the Government to curb the spread of the pandemic.
• Enforcement of Government directives – social distancing generally by the citizens, closure of churches, mosques, markets etc by the security agencies and task force is key in mitigating the spread of the pandemic.
• The need for Government responses to prioritize protection of vulnerable populations including the aged, pregnant women, differently abled persons etc. is important in preventing fatalities associated with COVID-19 pandemic.
• There is the need for the Government to strengthen partnership with the external actors, especially the World Health Organization (WHO) in provision of assistance in the areas of sharing of knowledge and lessons learning with regard to measures to mitigate the spread of the pandemic.

13 https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/national/travellers-in-mandatory-quarantine-make-up-more-than-half-of-ghanas-coronavirus-cases/ 14 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Shops-close-for-coronavirus-fumigation-902182 15 https://www.myjoyonline.com/business/economy/world-bank-supports-ghanas-covid-19-fight-with-100m/

1 https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ghana-population/ 4 WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 11 March 2020″. World Health Organization. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020 5 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/US-100m-coronavirus-cash-from-Consolidated-Fund-Donor-Partner-Fund-Oppong-Nkrumah-893215 6 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-Armed-Forces-cancels-Open-Day-amidst-coronavirus-scare-893971 7 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Coronavirus-German-Swiss-International-school-shuts-down-893764 8 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Coronavirus-GIS-shuts-down-894043 9 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/IMF-shuts-Ghana-office-over-coronavirus-893875 10 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Coronavirus-Norwegian-Embassy-in-Ghana-shuts-down-after-staff-tested-positive-894154 11 https://citinewsroom.com/2020/03/coronavirus-canadian-high-commission-in-ghana-shuts-down/ Situation Tracking is a periodic analytical report designed by WANEP through its National Early Warning System (NEWS) to monitor the changing trends of specific conflict threats as civil society support to peace and security in Ghana

2 https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/ghana-guide 3 Ibid 12 https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/national/full-text-akufo-addo-announces-insurance-packages-for-health-workers-suspension-of-water-bills-as-part-of-measures-to-combat-coronavirus/ Greater Accra Ashanti Upper West Northern Upper East Eastern MARCH 140 9 1 10 1 0 APRIL 49 3 0 0 0 1 140 9 1 10 1 49 3 1 REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF CASES BY MONTH Situation Tracking is a periodic analytical report designed by WANEP through its National Early Warning System (NEWS) to monitor the changing trends of specific conflict threats as civil society support to peace and security in Ghana