Coronavirus: Police prepares for possible lockdown announcement

A possible lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak appears more imminent as a leaked document shows the Ghana Police Service has put in place a strategy to enforce the ban on movement.

The “restricted document” is titled “Deployment strategy for lockdown of Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Obuasi” theghanareport.com has seen.

The government has been under pressure to announce a lockdown at every news of an increase in infections. Ghana has so far recorded 136 cases of the deadly virus as of March 27, 2020 with the Upper West region recording its first case of the virus.

Already, there is a ban on public gathering, the worst hit being churches and mosques. That ban announced March 15, 2020 was followed by the president’s order on March 21, 2020 to close the country’s borders to prevent imported cases of the virus.

But with another weekend coming, there are indications, the government’s measures will be escalated.

The police service document only dated March 2020 reads, “it is anticipated that a partial to full lockdown of some parts of the country will be executed in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.”

The police has strategized to seal of 15 routes within Accra, Tema and Kumasi. They are also prepared to “mount 24/7 road blocks, snap checkpoints” and also “robust day and night patrols.”

The document states that all offenders will be arrested and detained.

The operation is to be a joint exercise with the armed forces, immigration officers and the Bureau for National Investigation.

Ghana becomes the sixth African country to announce a lockdown as the continent watches the ravaging effects of coronavirus in Europe.

South Africa, Libya, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Mali, DR Congo have all locked down.

Coronavirus, also called covid-19, spreads through physical contact. Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, summed up what experts say is the best way to deal with the spread.

“The virus doesn’t move. It needs me and you to move. If you stop, the virus stops”