COVID-19: Don’t rush to stock food unnecessarily – Agric Minister

The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has advised against panic buying in the wake of the partial lockdown announced in parts of the country.

The lockdown forms part of measures by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has so far claimed five lives in the country.

President Akufo-Addo announced the lockdown in Greater Accra, parts of the Central Region and Kumasi.

Following this announcement, several markets in Accra and Kumasi witnessed massive patronage ahead of the implementation of the lockdown on March 30, 2020.

Market women also took undue advantage of the situation to increase the price of foodstuff astronomically.

But speaking at a press briefing Monday, the minister said there was plenty of food to cater for the needs of Ghanaians during the lockdown period hence, there was no need to engage in panic buying.

“I’m prepared to bet that in the next week or two, prices of goods will come back to normal… There’s more than enough food in the system. They don’t need to rush to stock up because this is not a war situation. We’re talking about just two weeks and with a possible extension of the movement depending on whether we’re successful with what we want to do, in two weeks, it’ll come to normal. So, it is a very odd period of interruption. There’s no need to stock up,” he said.

Ghana’s COVID-19 cases stood at 152 as of March 30, 2020, with five deaths and two recoveries.

Ten Guinean nationals who came into Ghana through Burkina Faso and Togo tested positive for the virus in Tamale after they were put in mandatory quarantine.

10 Guineans who sneaked into Tamale test positive for coronavirus

Ghana’s Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said government was in talks with the government of Guinea for the possible repatriation of its citizens.