President Akufo-Addo has banned all post- funeral receptions across the country in the wake of a third wave of COVID19 in Ghana.
According to the President, all funerals must also be held in open spaces and there must be the observance of the one (1) metre social distancing rule by sympathisers, while insisting that one-week funeral celebrations are restricted solely to family members, and should not exceed a duration of two (2) hour.
The President during his 26th COVID-19 update stated that available data from the Ghana Health Service, suggests that “our nation is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections”.
It is for this reason that the President maintained that there need for the strict observance of safety protocols at funerals, hence introduced the following enhanced protocols which he said must be adhered to by all at funerals:
- All events associated with funerals must be held in open air spaces;
- There must be observance of the one (1) metre social distancing rule by sympathisers;
- The wearing of masks is mandatory, and persons must respect the enhanced hygiene protocols;
- Funerals should not go beyond the two (2) hour time duration;
- Post-funeral receptions are banned;
- Handshakes must be avoided; and
- one-week funeral celebrations are restricted solely to family members, and should not exceed a duration of two (2) hour
Giving statistics on the virus in Ghana, the President noted: “the Ghana Health Services is now reporting that our total number of active cases stands at four thousand and ninety-four (4,094). A total of one million, three hundred and ninety-four thousand, five hundred and forty (1,394,540) tests have been conducted, out of which one hundred and one thousand, one hundred and seventy (101,170) persons have been infected with the virus, and ninety-six thousand, two hundred and fifty-five (96,255) persons have recovered”.
“Our daily infection rate is ……… and, sadly, thirty-six (36) more people have died from COVID over the last ten (10) weeks, bringing the cumulative number of deaths to eight hundred and nineteen (819) since the onset of the pandemic. Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas remain the hotspots of infections. This entire development is very alarming, especially as we are being told by officials of the Ghana Health Service that the recovery rate is on the decline”.
