Like Kenya, Ghana recorded its first two cases of COVID-19 on March 12, 2020. As of April 24, there have been 1,279 confirmed cases, with 134 persons recovered and 10 deaths. As part of measures to curb the spread of the disease, the Government of Ghana first directed the closure of all schools from the basic to the tertiary levels. Subsequently, public health officials and the government encouraged people to observe measures suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) which included regular handwashing and avoiding crowded places. These measures quickly prompted the use of Veronica buckets as shown in the photo, an innovation to facilitate handwashing. On March 29, the President of the Republic of Ghana announced a two-week partial lockdown in parts of the country (Accra and Kumasi) and surrounding towns considered to be the hotspots of the disease. This, however, has been extended for one more week. Personnel from the security services, notably the Police and Military, have been deployed to ensure adherence to the lockdown. Essential service workers are exempted and are allowed to go to work, while all other service providers have been directed to work from home. The city of Accra and some suburbs which are usually crowded and busy, have suddenly become quiet and deserted. The Government and some benevolent organizations have taken it upon themselves to provide free meals to people within certain communities. For some of us on the SMART Africa Team, working from home has been a daunting challenge especially with very unreliable internet service and having to take care of the children who are all home due to the closure of schools. Since no cure has been found yet to address COVID-19, we ask everybody to continue to social distance and stay home if there is nothing very important to do in town. We are thankful to the Ghana team for your ongoing commitment to health and safety during this unprecedented time.
