NEWS Situation Tracking:- 566 CONFIRMED CASES, 8 DEATHS, 49 DISCHARGED, 4 FULL RECOVERIES OF COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN GHANA

566 CONFIRMED CASES, 8 DEATHS, 49 DISCHARGED, 4 FULL RECOVERIES OF COVID-19

OUTBREAK IN GHANA

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

Date: MARCH 12th to April 12th, 2020

COMMUNITY PROFILING

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

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 Africa. Ghana’s growing economic prosperity

PROFILING CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS

Direct Actors: • The Corona Virus

Affected Persons: • 556 persons affected so far, 4 fully recovered, 8 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
• Members of Parliament
• Civil Society Organizations
• Embassies and High Commissions
• Schools

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

Global statistics regarding confirmed cases of COVID-19 have reached 1, 792,899. A total of 110,042 fatalities have been recorded while 412, 117 recoveries have been recorded.

Between March 12 th and 31st, 161 cases had been confirmed, 3 full recoveries made, 49 persons6 had been discharged and 5 deaths recorded. This meant that 153 cases were still being managed.

Between 1st to 5 th April, an additional 53 cases had been added, raising the confirmed case count to 214 and the live case count to 206.

Between 6th to 12 th April 2020, 352 new coronavirus cases were confirmed. This and democratic political system have made it a regional power in West Africa.

Economy: Currency: Ghanaian cedi GDP: 47.33 billion USD 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)

• All hospitals
• Ministry of Health
• National Commission for Civic Education
• The Immigration Service
• Churches

Brings the confirmed case count to 566, and live case count to 554. 3 deaths and a full recovery were recorded between this period.

Currently, the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Northern, North East, Upper East and Upper West, Volta and Western regions are those with officially reported cases.

The three weeks of March 2020, accounted for 161 confirmed cases, representing 28.4% of the total number of cases. However, in a little below 2 weeks of April 2020, 43.1% more cases9 have been recorded than was recorded in March; depicting exponentially increasing trend in the cases being reported day by day.

The Greater Accra continues to be the hardest hit region followed by the Ashanti region. However, the Eastern Region having recorded nothing in March, jumped from 1 case in the first week to 16 cases, and subsequently to 32 within 4 days in April.

RESPONSES

• Market places that were not in adherence of the social distancing protocols have been shut down completely until further notice.
• The annual Easter festivities that is usually patronized by Ghanaians have been temporarily put on hold since it serves as an avenue for large social gatherings. The president has urged citizens to stay at home as part of their sacrifice to the greater good of the survival of humanity.
• The two weeks partial lockdown implemented earlier in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions has been extended by a week, commencing on April 13, 2020.
• The Government has opted to absorb the cost water bills for Ghanaians for the next 3 months (April, May and June). Furthermore, water tankers that are both publicly and privately owned have been mobilized to ensure the supply of water to vulnerable communities. Additionally, the Government has also opted to fully absorb the cost of electricity bills for the poorest of the poor, and also absorb 50% for all other consumers eg. industry, enterprises and the service sector.
• Food items are being distributed to the vulnerable and the needy in communities. This is being done through the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Metropolitan and District Chief Executives with assistance from Faith Based Organizations. (FBOs)12 .
• The President has extended the initial one-month ban on public and social gatherings by an additional two weeks. The extension became operational after he signed an Executive Instrument (EI) to give effect to the new directive with effect from Monday, 13th April, 2020.

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 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 continue.
• 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 among others. This has the potential to affect food security in the country, with significant impact on household consumption, especially 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 emanating from routine surveillance and 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 and the physically challenged is imperative 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.

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Coronavirus-Lower-Manya-traders-residents-defy-social-distancing-order-despite-increased-numbers-922006 12 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/50-electricity-tariffs-reduction-not-Mahama-s-idea-Deputy-Minister-Designate-921769 13 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Akufo-Addo-extends-ban-on-public-gatherings-by-two-weeks-922024

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://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html 6 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/ 7 https://www.ghanahealthservice.org/covid19/

https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/ghana-guide 3 Ibid 8 https://www.ghanahealthservice.org/covid19/ 9 https://www.ghanahealthservice.org/covid19/ 10 https://www.ghanahealthservice.org/covid19/ 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