President Nana Akufo-Addo has maintained the directive that cinemas, pubs, night clubs and beaches still remain closed as part of restrictions adopted to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is to help reduce further escalation of the COVID-19 infection rate in the country.
The President made this statement during his 22nd address to the nation on measures instituted by the government to fight COVID-19. “Beaches, pubs, cinemas and nightclubs remain closed until further notice,” the President said.
He, however, instructed the Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong Boanuh to direct officers, men and women of the Police Service to ensure the closure of all night clubs, pubs, cinemas and beaches that may be operating in defiance of the law, adding that they will be assisted by the other security agencies, if need be.
Should any facility or institution fail to comply with these directives, its activities will be immediately prohibited, and appropriate sanctions applied,” the President said.
Though the ban on pubs, night clubs, cinemas and beaches has not been lifted, BEATWAVES gathered that people still visit such places to have fun.
During the Christmas and New Year celebrations, some beaches including Dansoman and Labadi beaches as well as a number of pubs in Accra and Kasoa were opened and customers were seen having fun at those places.
They were in full operation with nothing like COVID-19 safety protocols in place.
The President said, although the government was against the idea of a lockdown due to its negative impact on the economy, it might resort to that if the rate of spread increases.
The President, who was upset that many Ghanaians had abandoned the use of mask and were not observing the set hygiene protocols instituted to slow the spread of COVID-19 said, “We do not want to go back to the days of lockdowns but should that become necessary; that is if infected cases continue to go up, I will have no option but to reimpose those restrictions.”
He indicated that the government would reintroduce the testing, tracing and treating policy to help identify and isolate infected persons.
By George Clifford Owusu