Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey
Ghana’s mission in Berlin, Germany, has suspended consular services in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
A statement from the mission in Berlin reads, “The Embassy of Ghana wishes to inform the general public that following the increasing number of cases of coronavirus infection in Germany it has become necessary to temporarily suspend activities at the Consular Section for the next two weeks with effect from Wednesday, 18th March 2020, as a precautionary measure.”
The statement, however, added that all applications received prior to the effective date would be processed and dispatched to the applicants.
However, there is room for emergency consular services, the statement explained.
In a similar vein, Ghana’s ambassador to Germany with responsibilities over the republics of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, Mrs. Gina Ama Blay, updated Ghanaians in the above-mentioned countries about the actions being taken at home in response to the pandemic.
She told the residents about the President’s directives and the importance in protecting themselves against the pandemic.
“In view of the fact that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Europe as the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, and taking into cognizance the travel advisory and response actions for Covid-19 being undertaken in Ghana and host nations, I would like to encourage all Ghanaians in Germany and the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) to strictly adhere to these directives,” she added.
She charged her compatriots to take the necessary precautionary measures as outlined by WHO and other relevant authorities “and to appraise ourselves of current news updates on the virus as it continues to rapidly unfold.”
Passport Office
In a related development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has announced that owing to the efforts to contain the coronavirus, temporary measures have been unfolded for the acquisition of the Ghana passports.
“Please note that only passport applications with proof of emergency will be attended to for the next four weeks at all passport centres across the country beginning Tuesday, March 17, 2020,” the statement read.