The Inspector-General of Police James Oppong-Boanuh has issued a directive asking the Accra Regional Police Command to probe into the case of an elderly woman alleged to have been assaulted by a policeman on Wednesday.
The IGP wants the woman to be traced and listened to for evidence gathering and the offending officer identified.
A video which has gone viral saw a woman whose name has been given as Madam Florence in which she is given two strokes of cane without a just cause.
Reacting to the video, the Police PRO, Supt. Mrs. Sheila Abayie-Buckman, said “It is unfortunate what happened to Madam Florence. In fact and indeed, when we saw the video yesterday the Inspector General of Police instructed (the) Accra Regional Commander to locate, to find whatever evidence can be found, to locate the woman to tell her story and if she points out to any of the security personnel having done that he should follow the lead to identify the police or the security officer.â€
She added “We know all the police officers who were detailed to duty at the point where the incident is purported to have happened,†she said.
The current COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call on countries including Ghana to initiate the needed socio-economic reforms, the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has said.
CDD noted in a statement that COVID-19 is affecting 61.3% of the 194 World Health Organisation (WHO) member states.
This situation, the research group said, will have a significant impact on the world, even in countries like Ghana that have seen a few reported cases as compared to some countries in the West and Asia.
“So far, the following are known: The short-, medium- and long-term economic costs have not been fully elucidated. However, the loses on the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE?100) Index alone in the week ending 28th of February 2020 of £200 Billion surpassed the total global losses of SARS (£38.6 Billion), MERS (£6.6 Billion) and Ebola (£1.70 Billion) put together.
“This total is also surpassed by the potential losses to the airline industry of £100 Billion as indicated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“Well-resourced health systems like the Chinese (GHSI 48.2), Italian (GHSI 56.2) and South Korean (GHSI 70.2) have had significant challenges fighting off the virus once it had taken hold.
The Global Health Security (GHS) Index is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across the 195 countries that up the states parties to the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). It measures countries preparedness towards dealing with an epidemic. Ghana’s GHSI is 35.5.
Though the current mortality rate is 3.6%, the disease has been shown to cause significant morbidity in patients above the age of 60 and those with underlying chronic health conditions like hypertension, diabetes and asthma. For those over the age of 70, 21.9% (2 in 10) of confirmed cases lose their lives.
“Personal hygiene, proper handwashing, the regular use of sanitisers and the avoidance of crowded spaces are effective means of minimising the risk of infection and person to person transmission.
Major multi?nationals have had to significantly alter their work patterns to minimise the spread of the disease and large cities and countries have been put in lockdown mode.â€
Ever since President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the commencement of partial lockdown in some parts of the country, celebrities, and public figures have taken to social media to show off what they are doing to kill the boredom.
While many would have expected to see training videos of boxers like Bukom Banku, Samir Bastie, etc, social media users are stunned with the viral video of Prof. Joshua Alabi.
He may not have the skills of a professional boxer, but the count of his steps, strength, punches, and facial expression is what you definitely have to see.
The Ghanaian politician Prof. Joshua Alabi who doubles as the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies Accra, dressed in his white round neck T-shirt, matched with grey shorts and sneakers heavily threw punches at boredom in his red and white boxing gloves.
The video which has garnered over four thousand views on his Facebook page has since gone viral.
Meanwhile, celebrities including Jackie Appiah, Yvonne Nelson, Sandra Ankobiah, Nadia Buari among others have joined TikTok, to do thinks we rarely see them do on a normal day.
German sportswear maker Adidas (ADSGn.DE) apologizes on Wednesday for saying it would stop paying rent for stores around the world forced to close by coronavirus lockdowns after a storm of criticism, saying it would pay up for April after all.
Adidas was blasted on social media for its decision last week to defer rental payments and German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil called the behavior irresponsible and noted that the company had made hefty profits in recent years.
Many retailers around the world have been seeking to defer rent payments as they look to ride out the coronavirus shutdown, passing on the financial pressure to their landlords.
“Almost all over the world there is no normal business anymore. The shops are closed. Even a healthy company like Adidas cannot stand this for long,†the company said in a letter due to appear in various media outlets on Thursday.
Adidas said it would need credit even after staff cut their working hours, executives waived part of their pay and the company stopped share buybacks, but said it understood that many people saw the decision on rents as lacking solidarity.
“We would therefore like to apologize to you formally. We have paid our landlords the rent for April,†it said.
Adidas said on Tuesday it will suspend a 1 billion euro ($1.09 billion)share buyback it had planned for this year as a way to conserve cash after closing its retail outlets in Europe and North America.
The National Covid-19 Team is conducting the second and final test for persons under 14-day mandatory quarantine.
The test begun on April 1, and is expected until April 3, this year.
This was made known in a statement sent by the Health Ministry on March 31, 2020 to those under quarantine.
“I am by this letter informing you that the process of testing will commence today 1st April through 3rd April after which all test results would have been released and if you still test negative you will be allowed to go home but the team will continue to observe you at your home for some reasonable time.â€
According to the Ministry, over the last 10 or 11 days they have been under quarantine, efforts have been made to take their blood samples for testing.
It says it has engaged clinical and counseling psychologists for the Over 1,000 of persons under quarantine on a one on one basis.
It revealed that all necessary efforts have been made to relocate those who tested positive after the first test to treatment centres for care.
Elikem Kumordzie is among the 1030 people the government have placed under mandatory quarantine after arriving in Ghana when the country closed its borders.
The Ghanaian tailor ever since he went under the mandatory quarantine has kept an open life with his fans on social media as he shares daily insight and update about living in isolation with them. The actor has even created an Instagram radio show which has fetched him the name DJ Quarantine.
Far away from the usual fun and entertainment from Elikem, who is an ex-husband to Pokelo, has now been caught in an emotional moment as he reflects on his family and how the COVID-19 lockdown has reminded him that women, cars and properties are not that important in life.
According to Elikem, he wished he was even quarantined in Zimbabwe so he can spend quality time with his son, Tristan. Read how Elikem, who has tested negative for Coronavirus, put his message across in his letter which came with a video of his son with his mother in Zimbabwe.
“LIFE LESSONS.
We all miss that one person we can not be close to right now. I was suppose to pass by Zimbabwe on my way back to Ghana, but the Ghana boarders were going to close so I rushed home thinking there was more here for me, but now I really wish I was on lockdown in zimbabwe right now with Tristan and Nathan in some 20 dollar a night hotel, to speak the least.
Elikem and Pokello share first photo of daughter
“Do u know why, if the world is really coming to an end, can you really say you have maximised your time on earth? Can you really say you have shown enough love to the people who deserve it the most. We while away time busy with soo much work, where is that work now, or were you busy building a house or shops, where are those houses and shops now?
Elikem with new Lover after breakup with Pokello
Were you busy chasing dreams and material things and women, where are the cars and all the girls now? We are all locked down now we are either alone or with one loved one or our families, cars, houses, clothes, phones, material things and just anyone is not important anymore, LIFE is, family is, our mothers and fathers are, our Children are.
Pokello Nare and Elikem kumordzie
“Let’s be thankful for life and stay close to our loved ones until this is all over. And when it’s all over, don’t forget to keep up the love and make it a LIFE LESSON“.
The police at Bekwai, in the Ashanti Region, have mounted a wild search for two male suspects who allegedly beat a policeman on Wednesday.
The policeman was directing traffic at Bekwai when he saw the two suspects blocking traffic with a motorbike.
The policeman then ordered them to leave the road for traffic to flow but this simple order reportedly angered the suspects.
They, therefore, grabbed the policeman and pummeled him in public, creating a nasty scene.
With the help of another policeman the suspects were arrested, only for them to escape at the police station.
Bekwai Divisional MTTD Commander, ASP Francis Yaw Ekoh, assured that they will do everything possible to arrest the runaway suspects.
He said the policeman was inspecting cars to make sure they adhered to the social distancing order and should not have been attacked.
ASP Ekoh admitted that the two men were nabbed with their motorbike and hauled to the police station for questioning but said “surprisingly, the two suspects fled and left behind their motorbike. We will definitely arrest them,†he told Nhyira fm.
Absa Bank has also offered a repayment moratorium of up to six months to all its personal and business customers who have been affected by COVID-19.
The bank has also reduced its lending rate by 2% to qualified personal and SME customers as well as loans to other impacted industries.
These measures took effect from 1 April 2020, and will be implemented across all loans due in April 2020, subject to the necessary arrangements with the bank.
The bank, last week, as a way of supporting customers, waived charges on interbank instant transfers on its digital channels, and also made mobile money transfers of up to GHS100 daily free.
Absa, also in a statement, said in the face of the challenges customers are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was only right that it offered some relief to help customers remain in business.
Commenting, the Managing Director, Abena Osei-Poku, said: “We have been closely monitoring developments and the growing concerns on COVID-19 in Ghana and the rest of the world, as well as reports from government and health institutions. This pandemic is nothing we have seen before and is very alarming, to say the least. As a caring bank, it is important for us to support our customers who keep us in business.â€
“While doing that, we are also aware of the efforts the government is making to bring the situation of COVID-19 under control in Ghana. We, therefore, found it dutiful to support the government towards the purchase of test kits to help curb the spread of the virus and PPEs for the protection of our frontline health workers.â€
The bank said it will keep monitoring developments on COVID-19 and make decisions that will be in the best interest of customers and employees.
Givers Industries, producers of Givers Ice (bottled water), Givers Koo Capsules and Givers Herbal Mixture has donated some items to the 37 Military Hospital as part of efforts to help fight the coronavirus.
Some of the items donated were Givers Multipurpose Cleaner, Givers Liquid Detergent, and Givers Antiseptics which are also produced by the company.
The rest of the items were sanitizers, toilet rolls, tissue papers, boxes of Givers Herbal mixture, packs of Giver Ice bottled water and Veronica Buckets.
The donation was upon a request made by Sokoohemaa Foundation led by Radio Host Sokoohemaa Kukua.
Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Kofi Kakari presenting the items to management, of the hospital, said, it was part of efforts by the company to support the fight against the virus.
He said the items would go a long way to help the facility.
Mr. Kakari indicated that the fight against the virus is a collective one and asked corporate bodies to support the fight.
He said they were encouraged to support the fight to ensure Ghanaians are safe.
He also asked the general public to adhere to the safety protocols put in place towards the fight.
Sokoohemaa on her part said the request was based on the fact that the hospital needed the items to support their efforts.
According to her, the facility is usually forgotten when it comes to donations and support from corporate bodies hence her request for the facility to be supported.
She expressed gratitude to the company for the support.
Commanding Officer of the Hospital, Co. A.G Bugri expressed gratitude to the company for their kind gesture.
He admonished Ghanaians to strictly adhere to the safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Some quarantined staff of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) who came into contact with 10 Covid-19 patients in Tamale have tested negative.
Public Relations officer of the TTH Mohammed Misbau who confirmed this to Joy News said they heaved a sigh of relief when they received the result yesterday.
Some 40 persons, including health workers at the Hospital, were quarantined after coming into contact with 10 Guinean Covid-19 patients in the Northern Regional capital.
Police officers who moved the foreigners from their hotel to the Hospital have also been identified and will be quarantined.
On Sunday, the Ghana Health Service confirmed 11 more cases of Covid-19 in the country.
Out of the 11 cases, 10 were Guinean citizens who had entered Tamale through Burkina Faso and Togo.
But unlike, the health workers who now know their status, the police officers who first came into contact with the patients are yet to be tested.
Speaking from their hotel room in Tamale one of the officers told Joy News their samples are yet to be taken and that is a worry to them.
Director of Communications at the Presidency Eugene Arhin has revealed that presidential staffers and Deputy Minister who have committed 50% of their salaries to the fight against the deadly coronavirus will manage the remainder.
“We will cope, I believe at the end of the day we need to extort a greater course so whatever be the case. As I said nobody was forced to donate to this particular fund, we all did it voluntarily. We believe we just have to manage for the next three months to sail through once we did it voluntarilyâ€, he revealed in response to how they will cope with half their salaries in an interview monitored by MyNewsGH.com.
All Ministers of State, the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, the Deputy Chiefs of Staff, Deputy Ministers, Secretary to the President, Secretary to the Cabinet, other Senior Presidential Staffers and Presidential Aides at the Presidency on Monday decided to cut out fifty percent (50%) of their salaries for April, May and June to be paid into the COVID-19 National Trust Fund, a fund established by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for the fight against the Corona virus.
The fund is also meant to assist in the welfare of the needy and the vulnerable.
Reacting to fears some persons may use shortcuts to recoup the donated cash, Mr Eugene Arhin disagreed stating “I can assure you and mark my words that nothing like that is going to happen.â€
Shenzhen has become the first Chinese city to ban the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat.
It comes after the coronavirus outbreak was linked to wildlife meat, prompting Chinese authorities to ban the trade and consumption of wild animals.
Shenzhen went a step further, extending the ban to dogs and cats. The new law will come into force on 1 May.
Thirty million dogs a year are killed across Asia for meat, says Humane Society International (HSI).
However, the practice of eating dog meat in China is not that common – the majority of Chinese people have never done so and say don’t want to.
“Dogs and cats as pets have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals, and banning the consumption of dogs and cats and other pets is a common practice in developed countries and in Hong Kong and Taiwan,” the Shenzhen city government said, according to a Reuters report.
“This ban also responds to the demand and spirit of human civilization.”
The race to find the source of coronavirus in wildlife
Animal advocacy organisation HSI praised the move.
“This really could be a watershed moment in efforts to end this brutal trade that kills an estimated 10 million dogs and 4 million cats in China every year,” said Dr Peter Li, China policy specialist for HSI.
However, at the same time as this ruling, China approved the use of bear bile to treat coronavirus patients.
Bear bile – a digestive fluid drained from living captive bears – has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The active ingredient, ursodeoxycholic acid, is used to dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease. But there is no proof that it is effective against the coronavirus and the process is painful and distressing for the animals
Brian Daly, a spokesman for the Animals Asia Foundation, told AFP: “We shouldn’t be relying on wildlife products like bear bile as the solution to combat a deadly virus that appears to have originated from wildlife.”
A wildlife market
In February, Chinese authorities banned the trade and consumption of wild animals.
The move came after it emerged that a market in Wuhan selling wild animals and wildlife meat could have been the starting point for the outbreak of the new coronavirus, providing the means for the virus to travel from animals to humans.
News of this led the Chinese government to crack down strongly on the trade and on the markets that sold such products.
There are now close to one million confirmed cases of the virus worldwide, and more than 47,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
In China alone, there are 81,589 confirmed cases and 3,318 deaths, said the National Health Commission.
Scientists and researchers are still no closer to finding out what the source of the virus is and how it could have spread to humans.
Member of Parliament for Ho West Constituency, in the Volta Region, Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah has reminded people of the constituency that COVID-19 is no respecter of social status and called on the people to support the fight to stop the spread of the virus.
The Ho West MP made the call at a meeting with the Ho West District Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Ho West District Police Commander and some Assembly Members to present some items to the constituency as part of measures to support the fight against COVID-19 on Wednesday, 1 April 2020.
The items comprising Veronica buckets, hand sanitisers, liquid soap, bleach, laser thermometers and PPEs to the constituency were presented to all Clinics/Healthcare Centres, Police Stations, Markets, Taxi Stations, Motorcycle (Okada) Stations among other public places located within the Ho West Constituency.
Ghana has so far recorded 195 cases of the deadly virus, 5 deaths and 3 recoveries.
Government as part of efforts to prevent further spread of the virus has restricted movement in parts of the country.
Movement in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions and Kasoa have been restricted for 14 days.
The governor of Guam says the island will take in US sailors from the coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt, after the ship’s captain warned that urgent action was needed to stop the virus from spreading to all 4,000 crew members.
Hundreds of uninfected US Navy sailors will be hosted in unnamed local hotels for 14 days and are strictly prohibited from interacting with local residents.
“We have an interest in protecting our community and stopping the spread of Covid-19 just as much as the military has an obligation to return the USS Roosevelt to the open ocean to protect Guam and the region,†Gov Lou Leon Guerrero said on Wednesday.
It comes after the ship’s captain warned military officials: “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die.”
So far, the US territory has suffered the worst outbreak in the Pacific, according to Radio New Zealand.
Spain has recorded another 864 deaths related to coronavirus, the highest in one day, as the total number of deaths across Europe has gone beyond 30,000.
More than 9,000 people have died in Spain, which is second only to Italy in fatalities caused by the virus.
Confirmed cases in the country have passed 100,000, but numbers show the infection rate continues to fall.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said the pandemic was the world’s biggest challenge since World War Two.
The warning comes amid dire predictions about the possible economic impact of measures imposed to fight the virus. A UN report estimates that up to 25 million jobs could be lost around the world as the result of the outbreak.
The number of confirmed cases globally is now over 870,000, with more than 43,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US.
Follow our latest updates on the coronavirus crisis Wednesday’s number of deaths in Spain was marginally higher than the 849 announced the day before, and the country has now seen more than 800 deaths for five days in a row. But health officials believe the latest 12% increase in daily infections is further evidence that the rate has stabilised.
Spain has been in lockdown for over two weeks, with further restrictions on movement introduced two days ago. But health services in the hardest-hit areas, including Madrid and Catalonia, are still struggling, with shortages of medical equipment a particular problem.
Italy remains the worst-affected country, with a total of 105,792 confirmed cases and 13,155 deaths. Spain has 102,136 cases and 9,053 deaths. However, Italy has seen the daily rise in infection rates fall to less than 3%, well down on a few days ago.
The number of deaths in the US has now topped 4,000, and Iran says Covid-19 – the disease caused by coronavirus – has claimed 3,000 lives. Belgium said more than half its intensive care beds were occupied as it reported a rise of 123 deaths, bringing the country’s death toll to 828.
Meanwhile France reported 509 deaths from Coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 4,032. It is the fourth country to record more than 4,000 fatalities after Italy, Spain and the US. The total number of confirmed cases is now 56,989, up about 9% from Tuesday.
The UK on Wednesday recorded 563 deaths in 24 hours – it is the first time its daily toll has been higher than France’s. However Britain’s overall death toll, 2,352, is still lower.
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has drawn criticism for resisting issuing a mandatory statewide stay-at-home order, as 30 US states have already done.
So far only four counties in southern Florida are under “safer-at-home” restrictions, despite there being more than 85 deaths across the state’s 69 counties. Of the eight states with the highest number of Covid-19 cases, Florida is the only one without a mandatory lockdown order.
Earlier this month Mr DeSantis was panned for refusing to close beaches, even as spring break tourists flocked to the state.
“I think no matter what you do, you’re going to have a class of folks who just do whatever the hell they want to,” he said on Tuesday, as he called on Floridians to “just chill out and stay around the house as much as they can”.
“In terms of being social right now, this is just not the time to have big social gatherings.”
His reaction contrasts sharply with Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who has been praised for his early action to prevent the spread of coronavirus in his state.
Lebanon’s labour ministry is investigating the death of a Ghanaian domestic worker after an Al Jazeera investigation revealed she feared for her life because of alleged abuse by her employers.
Faustina Tay was found dead in the early hours of March 14 in a car park under her employer’s fourth-floor home in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In the week leading up to her death, the 23-year-old sent dozens of desperate text messages and more than 40 minutes of voice notes to activists and her brother in Ghana.
She said she had been beaten on at least four occasions by her employer, Hussein Dia, and Ali Kamal, the owner of domestic workers recruitment agency Al Kamal Trading and Services which brought her to Lebanon.
Tay said Kamal assaulted her alongside an employee named Hussein. All three denied the allegations when contacted by Al Jazeera.
“I’m scared. I’m scared they might kill me,” Tay had said in a voice note sent to Canada-based activist group This Is Lebanon two days before she was found dead.
Faustina Tay’s body was discovered in a car park under her employers’ fourth-storey home in Beirut.
Al Jazeera provided Lebanon’s labour ministry and Internal Security Forces with Tay’s text messages and voice notes on March 20. Labour Minister Lamia Yammine told Al Jazeera on Wednesday the ministry had launched an investigation concurrent to a criminal investigation by Lebanon’s judiciary.
“It’s our duty to look into these cases and investigate with the employer and agent, even as the public prosecutor investigates at the same time,” Yammine said.
She added that the investigation could lead to the employer and the agency being placed on a blacklist, meaning Dia would no longer be able to hire domestic workers, and Kamal’s agency would lose its license.
Kamal previously told Al Jazeera he brought roughly 1,000 foreign domestic workers to Lebanon each year.
Joumana Haymour, the head of the labour ministry’s inspection department, told Al Jazeera Kamal’s testimony had been recorded, and Dia had agreed to come in for questioning on April 6.
In the series of messages that began on March 7, Tay said she had been repeatedly beaten by Dia and Kamal between January and March after she asked to return to Ghana due to harsh working conditions, which included no days off, an average of six hours sleep at night and little privacy.
She said she was not given a room but slept on a sofa in the kitchen. Tay also said she was beaten by Dia on March 10 and by Kamal on March 11 before being returned to Dia’s house.
Less than three days later, she was dead.
Tay’s brother Joshua Demyana told Al Jazeera his sister would likely be buried in Lebanon because of the difficulty of getting her body repatriated to Ghana given that the country’s airports are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Her father sent a letter to Ghana’s foreign ministry on March 26, pressing for an investigation into his daughter’s death.
Kafala system
Human rights groups have long called on Lebanon to abolish the Kafala system under which Tay was employed.
Instead of being covered by the country’s labour law, some 250,000 foreign domestic workers in Lebanon are employed under the system that binds the legal residence of domestic workers to their employers.
Domestic workers can only terminate their contract with the consent of the employer. Otherwise, they become illegal residents and can be jailed and deported.
The system has facilitated widespread abuse, ranging from late or non-payment of wages to assault and sexual harassment.
Yammine said the labour ministry was working with the International Labor Organization and groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International towards strengthening the contracts between employers and domestic workers, including a provision that would allow the latter to terminate the contract without the consent of the employer.
The process, she added, is currently in the consultation phase.
The Managing Director of Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Dr. John Kofi Mensah has announced a GH¢1 million package to support the governments fight against the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The decision according to Dr. John Kofi Mensah was taken at a Board Meeting last week and is to be used in purchasing Personal Protective Equipment like Hand gloves, Face Masks, Hand Sanitizers and other disinfectants to be distributed to Research Institutions, Farmer Based Organizations, the Ghana Police Service and identified Regional Hospitals nationwide.
The Managing Director said the Bank is to donate an amount of GH¢200,000 to the COVID-19 Fund as announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“Our major focus will be on health institutions in mainly the peri-urban and rural areas, our customers and also our hardworking Farmers and Traders who are equally vulnerable to attack due to the nature of their work,†he said.
With farmers being some of the most vulnerable in society, the Bank believes any support to these farmers and other agribusinesses is a major step in the fight against the virus and would significantly cushion such a critical sector of the economy.
According to the Managing Director, the Bank will from this week ensure that the items reach the beneficiaries.
He said the Bank has put in place measures to ensure all health protocols as outlined by Health Authorities are adhered to ensure no staff is infected with the various.
“Currently we have drastically reduced our workforce by about 45 percent, all our branches have been mandated to buy hand sanitizers for their personal and customer use and also we are observing the social distancing protocol at all our meetings and daily interactions,†he said.
Already the Bank has aligned with the Ghana Bankers Association to contribute a total of GH¢10 million as the sectors contribution to the pandemic.
In addition to that we have also waived all interbank transfer fees on our digital platforms and mobile wallet transaction fees for transactions below GH¢100.
We urge our Customers to continue utilizing our numerous digital platforms like the ADB Mobile App, *767#, POS Terminals, Visa Prepaid Cards etc.
Dr. Kofi Mensah advised Ghanaians to follow the health protocols as outlined including, frequent washing of hands with soap under running water, use of alcohol based hand sanitizers, properly disposing of tissues after use and also ensuring the social distancing protocol.
Sales of alcohol have reportedly spiked in the US, where almost three out of four people are now under some form of lockdown.
Online sales of alcoholic drinks more than tripled last week (up 243% compared to the same time period the year before), according to market research firm Nielsen.
Shops sales also rose by 55% the research suggested – with tequila and gin named as the most popular tipples.
In the UK, some online wine merchants had been forced to suspend orders “due to unprecedented demand” after pubs and clubs were told to close.
But British off-licences have been told they can stay open – after being added to the list of essential businesses.
It came as some British supermarkets placed a limit on the amount of alcohol products shoppers can buy at one time after their supplies kept running dry.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, the sale of alcohol has been banned.
As Ghanaians are lockdown in their homes courtesy to coronavirus, music production kingpins, Jay Q and Appietus on yesternight, April 1, 2020, decided to give Instagram users a lot of nostalgic feelings.
Taking turns to play some of the songs they produced back in the days, the over 6,000 people who were watching them live were just dumbfounded.
The feeling of nostalgia even got more fun when they decided to celebrate Castro, who has been missing for about six years now, by playing the songs they both produced for him back to back.
Check out the full video of their back to back on Castro below:
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the country’s citizens to wear face masks in public in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.
In a televised address to the nation, Mr Netanyahu told people they could make improvised masks if needed.
Wearing face masks is compulsory in some countries, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia, while Austria has told people to wear them in supermarkets.
But in many other parts of the world, including the UK and the US, it’s still perfectly acceptable to walk around bare-faced.
However US health authorities are now debating whether to recommend face coverings for everyone when they go out in public. US media say a CDC internal memo says even simple cloth masks could help reduce transmission.
Since the start of the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said people only need to wear face masks in two situations:
1. if they are sick and showing symptoms 2. or if they are caring for people who are suspected to have coronavirus
However, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the organisation continued “to gather all available evidence and to evaluate the potential use of masks more broadly to control Covid-19 transmission at the community level”.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has told security forces they should shoot dead anyone causing “trouble” in areas locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
About half the country’s roughly 110 million people are currently under quarantine — including millions in deep poverty, left jobless by tough restrictions on movement.
Hours before Duterte gave the order in a speech late Wednesday, nearly two dozen people from a slum community in the capital Manila were arrested for holding a protest that accused the government of failing to provide food aid to the poor.
“My orders are to the police and military, also village officials, that if there is trouble or the situation arises that people fight and your lives are on the line, shoot them dead,” Duterte said.
“Instead of causing trouble, I’ll send you to the grave,” he said, adding that the outbreak is getting worse more than two weeks into the lockdown.
The Philippines has so far detected 2,311 cases and reported 96 deaths, but the country has only begun ramping up testing and so the number of confirmed infections is expected to keep rising.
Duterte, who came to power in a landslide 2016 election victory, is known internationally for his foul-mouthed tirades and deadly crackdown on drugs, which is overwhelmingly supported by Filipinos.
But critics allege that Duterte’s drug war targets the poor and leaves the rich and powerful untouched, while reinforcing a culture of impunity.
The president’s latest comments drew immediate rebuke from rights groups who urged the government to provide much-needed relief supplies instead of issuing threats of violence.
“It is deeply alarming that President Duterte has extended a policy of shoot-to-kill… Deadly, unchecked force should never be referred to as a method to respond to an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” Amnesty International Philippines said in a statement.
As frequently happens after Duterte makes an announcement that sparks concern, officials said the president used hyperbole to make a point.
Philippine National Police Chief Archie Gamboa said on Thursday that officers would not begin shooting troublemakers dead.
“Probably the president just overemphasized on implementing the law in this time of crisis,” he added.
The quarantine, which affects Manila’s 12 million people, has shuttered most businesses and brought nearly all social, religious and business activity to a halt.
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the US has gone above 5,000, while confirmed cases worldwide are close to reaching one million.
There were 884 deaths in the US in 24 hours, a new record, according to Johns Hopkins University, which has tracked virus figures globally.
The latest victims include a six-week-old baby. More than 216,000 are now infected, the world’s highest figure.
Reserves of protective equipment and medical supplies are almost exhausted.
This has left the federal government and individual US states competing for safety gear, while the unprecedented demand has led to profiteering, officials in the Department for Homeland Security were quoted by the Washington Post as saying.
The Trump administration says it can acquire adequate supplies, and has $16bn (£13bn) available to do so. State and local officials have complained about insufficient protective equipment such as masks and gowns as well as ventilators, needed to help keep patients breathing.
Meanwhile, US Vice-President Mike Pence warned the US appeared to be on a similar trajectory as Italy where the death toll has exceeded 13,000 – the worst in the world.
The number of confirmed infections across the US rose by more than 25,000 in one day. The worst-hit place is New York City, where nearly 47,500 people have tested positive and more than 1,300 have died.
Officials say as many as 240,000 people could die in the US from Covid-19 – the disease caused by the virus – even with the mitigation measures in place. In Connecticut, a six-week-old baby has died from coronavirus, believed to be America’s youngest victim of the virus so far.
The newly introduced levy or Cylinder Recovery Margin by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), is to support LPGMCs/OMCs ahead of the implementation of the cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM), the National Petroleum Authority has stated.
The NPA in March this year launched the pilot phase of the policy in Kade in the Eastern region and Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.
The policy is intended to change the current mode of gas distribution into a more secured and safe manner.
The policy is to ensure increase usage of LPG from the current 25% to 50% by 2030.
As part of the CRM policy, the LPGMCs and OMCs will be responsible for the branding, safety and maintenance of the cylinders.
Customers will no longer have to take an empty cylinder to be filled, they simply take their empty cylinder to an OMC/LPGMC and pick up a filled cylinder.
There will be different cylinder sizes from 3kg to 14.5kg to ensure that consumers pay for what they can afford.
Contrary to claims by some interest groups in the petroleum industry that the levy will burden the consumers, sources say the Cylinder Investment Margin of 13.5 pesewas is rather to support the marketers procure and maintain the cylinders.
A source at the NPA says the regulator is determined to support the LPGMCs and Oil Marketing Companies, and has consistently engaged and consulted them on all aspects of the implementation of the energy policy.
The Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) wants the Bank of Ghana to compel all financial institutions to waive loan repayments for businesses as directed by the government.
The Finance Minister announced in Parliament on Monday, March 30, 2020, some fiscal measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
They include granting a six-month moratorium on principal repayments for selected businesses.
To this end, GUTA said: “Without necessarily spelling out the details of the measures, we like to single out the granting of principal repayments for selected businesses. We believe BoG should have that stronger oversight to ensure that all financial institutions will implement this directive for all businesses to bring the needed relief to all distressed businesses at this time.
“GUTA, however, notes the timely presentation of this statement to parliament.â€
Explaining further, the statement said: “It is very important that at this time of our lives as a people, every effort should be made to ensure that the negative impact on especially, our businesses, can be reduced through the human approach by our revenue authorities, Bank of Ghana, landlords, financial institutions and above all the government.â€
GUTA lauded President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the government for their fight against COVID-19 to ensure that the impact on businesses is lessened.
But while doing so, it advised the government to have the members of GUTA and the trading private sector in mind as far as any stimulus package is concerned, since majority of them are in the small and medium enterprises sector.
“GUTA will continue to advise all her members and the trading private sector to adhere to all the directives of the government and to continue to follow the precautionary measures put out by the health ministry bearing in mind that yes, the economy can be fixed but not our lives, should we lose itâ€, the group added.
Three persons, a mother and her two sons have been quarantined in Bongo in the Upper East Region on suspicion that they might be infected with the coronavirus after one showed symptoms of the disease.
This brings the number of persons in mandatory quarantine in the district to five.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Mr Peter Ayamga Ayinbisa, the District Chief Executive for the area disclosed that one of the sons had returned from the Ashanti Region a few days ago and was ill.
He said he was taken to the Bongo District Hospital by his mother and brother, who had also returned to the District on March 12, 2020 from abroad.
When the three were screened, the health professionals realized that the temperature of the young man was high and he had difficulty in breathing.
The situation therefore prompted the COVID-19 team to quarantine the three while their samples were taken for testing.
The DCE urged the people not to panic as the situation was under control and encouraged them to continue adhering to the precautionary protocols to keep themselves safe from the infectious virus.
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the US has gone above 5,000, while confirmed cases worldwide are close to reaching one million.
There were 884 deaths in the US in 24 hours, a new record, according to Johns Hopkins University, which has tracked virus figures globally.
The latest victims include a six-week-old baby. More than 216,000 are now infected, the world’s highest figure.
Reserves of protective equipment and medical supplies are almost exhausted.
This has left the federal government and individual US states competing for safety gear, while the unprecedented demand has led to profiteering, officials in the Department for Homeland Security were quoted by the Washington Post as saying.
The Trump administration says it can acquire adequate supplies, and has $16bn (£13bn) available to do so. State and local officials have complained about insufficient protective equipment such as masks and gowns as well as ventilators, needed to help keep patients breathing.
Coronavirus: Lack of medical supplies ‘a national shame’
Meanwhile, US Vice-President Mike Pence warned the US appeared to be on a similar trajectory as Italy where the death toll has exceeded 13,000 – the worst in the world.
The number of confirmed infections across the US rose by more than 25,000 in one day. The worst-hit place is New York City, where nearly 47,500 people have tested positive and more than 1,300 have died.
Officials say as many as 240,000 people could die in the US from Covid-19 – the disease caused by the virus – even with the mitigation measures in place. In Connecticut, a six-week-old baby has died from coronavirus, believed to be America’s youngest victim of the virus so far.
What is happening in New York?
Queens, New York City’s second-most populous borough, has the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths. The area is home to a large population of low-income workers employed by the service sector who live in close proximity, and social-distancing guidelines are hard to enforce.
“While we are practising as a city, social distancing, you may have multiple families living in a very small apartment. And so it’s easy to understand why there’s a lot of transmission of Covid occurring,” said Dr Mitchell Katz, head of New York City Health + Hospitals.
The city needed 2.1 million surgical masks, 100,000 surgical gowns and 400 ventilators, among other items, by Sunday, said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has warned that April would be worse than March as the outbreak gathered pace. He said the goal was to triple the number of hospital beds, to 65,000.
“This will be an epic process through the month of April. It’s herculean, but I believe it can be reached,” he said on Twitter.
Sobering pictures from the city have shown bodies being loaded onto refrigerated mortuary lorries outside hospitals.
US death rates v UK, Italy and South Korea
What is happening elsewhere in the US?
Other clusters are flaring up in places like Detroit. In New Orleans, Ellis Marsalis Jr, a jazz pianist, teacher and father of musicians Branford and Wynton Marsalis, became the latest high-profile figure to die from complications caused by Covid-19. He was 85.
Marsalis spent most of his career in his native New Orleans, and released more than 15 albums. “Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
Florida, Georgia and Mississippi have become the latest US states to issue lockdown orders. More than 75% of the country’s population are now under orders to stay at home.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis softened his stance banning two cruise ships hit with coronavirus from docking in the state. He had been adamant that the ships should not land passengers at Fort Lauderdale, but now said the decision was up to the local authorities.
A staunch ally of President Trump, the governor faced pressure from the president on Wednesday to relent. He said he had understood the passengers were all foreigners, mainly Canadians and British, and did not realise that US citizens were also aboard.
What is happening elsewhere?
In the UK, the Wimbledon tennis tournament has been cancelled for the first time since World War Two
British government officials vowed to ramp up testing within weeks, as the number of deaths in the UK saw its big daily increase – 563
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised the largest economic programme in the country’s history
The official death toll in Iran has passed 3,000 while in Spain more than 9,000 have died
Asante Kotoko SC is set to send out midfielder Godfred Asiamah to Karela United FC for the rest of the season.
Asiamah will be joining the Pride and Passion side on loan as he seeks for more playing actions.
The 20-year-old hasn’t been able to land himself a starting role since he joined the Porcupines in 2019 from AshantiGold SC.
Karela United will have the option to make the deal permanent if they are able to avoid relegation at the end of the season. They currently lie 17th on the log.
The former New Edubiase United youngster trained with Swedish side AIK Stockholm in 2017 after impressing on his debut season in the Ghana Premier League
President Donald Trump’s White House appears powerless to halt an increasingly tragic trajectory in the coronavirus pandemic as the death toll climbed by nearly 1,000 on a single, dark day.
Vice President Mike Pence warned in a CNN interview that the most comparable example for what is to come is Italy, which has endured weeks of misery as the previous epicenter of the global crisis.
For all the formidable power of the White House, Trump and his top officials can do little more to urge Americans to stay home to ease the terrible demands being placed on medical staff in hospitals in worst-hit areas that are crammed with sick patients and running out of basic supplies. There is a feeling of a terrible storm approaching with the government predicting the worst over the next month or so.
“It’s still heartbreaking when we think about the lives that could be lost — and so our message yesterday, our message over the next 30 days, is the future is in our hands,” Pence told CNN.
The vice president was speaking after the administration Tuesday warned that between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans could die from the virus — even if mitigation efforts, like stay-at-home orders now affecting 9 in 10 Americans, are properly observed.
The deepening sense of foreboding is focusing debate on whether Trump — who spent weeks downplaying the likely impact of the pandemic — had cost lives by not being more proactive.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday that Trump’s “denial at the beginning was deadly,” saying that as the President “fiddles, people are dying.”
Then there were calls Wednesday for the President to mandate a nationwide shutdown with some states still dragging their feet, even as Johns Hopkins University reported 216,515 confirmed cases in the US and 5,119 deaths as of midnight Wednesday — figures that show that nowhere in the country is likely to be immune.
Adding to the evidence that the federal government is falling short, officials confirmed that a national stockpile of ventilators and protective medical gear, desperately needed by frontline health workers, is all but exhausted.
Trump has moved from denying the severity of the pandemic and agitating to open the economy to a recognition of how bad things could get.
“America continues to wage all-out war to defeat the virus — this horrible, horrible virus,” Trump said Wednesday. The President has extended nationwide self-distancing guidelines until April 30.
But after an unusually somber appearance in the briefing room on Tuesday, the President was back to his habitual efforts to distract from any personal culpability for the situation.
He didn’t even want to start his regular dinner time appearance before reporters by talking about the virus, on the deadliest day yet for Americans.
Instead he highlighted a new anti-narcotics initiative in a fresh example of how he has often sought to turn coronavirus briefings into the political platform he lacks with campaign rallies canceled.
Bizarrely, the President also boasted about his popularity on Facebook, and suddenly floated a scheme to build two new hospital ships — a project that would take years in the event the Navy commissions them.
And Trump and Pence dodged on tough questions about the crisis — for instance, on loopholes in Florida’s belated stay-at-home directives finally imposed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump ally. After Pence waffled on a query over whether Obamacare exchanges could be opened up to help Americans who lost insurance along with their jobs when the economy was shut down, Trump poured praise on his vice president.
“That was one of the greatest answers I’ve ever heard, because Mike was able to talk for five minutes and not answer your question,” Trump told a reporter.
His performance appeared to confirm the skepticism of critics who saw his much hailed change of previous tone about the scope of the virus as a temporary departure from his unchained norm.
New questions about Trump’s responsibility
As the crisis gets worse, with the federal government now predicting between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans could die, even if self-distancing works, the question over whether the death toll could have been eased with an earlier White House response are becoming ever more acute.
The White House claims that Trump’s leadership has been all but perfect, despite his downplaying of the virus and failure to order a huge preparation effort when it took hold in China.
But a Trump adviser working with the task force told CNN’s Jim Acosta that Trump bet that warmer weather in the spring would cause the virus to dissipate.
“He took a gamble and got it wrong,” the adviser said. “He analyzed the data and opinions of experts and sided with the one that said warm weather will likely slow the virus.”
Such a decision could turn out to be one of the most fateful moments of the US response to the pandemic. The indications of how Trump handled the approaching storm will fuel claims by Democrats that he cost lives by not acting more quickly.
The President also tried to deflect blame on Wednesday, insisting no one could have predicted that the US could be struck by a disease that would spread like wildfire among the population.
“This is so contagious. Nobody’s ever seen anything like this, where large groups of people all of a sudden, just by being in the presence of somebody, have it,” he said in the briefing.
That argument was untrue. As China faced a rising challenge from the virus and quarantined the city of Wuhan, the virulence of the pandemic was obvious and could be gleaned from news sources.
At the end of February, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, Nancy Messonnier, warned publicly that “disruption to everyday life may be severe.”
Trump also confirmed Wednesday that the government was nearing the end of its stocks of items like protective personal equipment and ventilators.
Officials said that the stockpile was never meant to be the sole source of supply for items like protective equipment and that local authorities should seek to fill their need on the open market. That will come as terrible news to state governors and frontline health care workers who are pleading for more equipment — and for Trump to fully unleash the power of government to surge manufacturing of such items.
Republicans blame impeachment for virus response delays
The scale of the looming disaster would have tested any administration and was bound to highlight flaws in governance at the local and state level as well. But Trump is being criticized so vehemently because he was so vocal in dismissing the threat from the virus for weeks. It also took him a prolonged period to fully embrace the warnings of his scientific advisers on the need for national self-distancing measures.
As the continuing inadequacy of the federal government effort becomes clear, a coordinated effort by the White House and Republican allies to redirect blame is under way.
“I will be very candid with you and say that in mid-January the CDC was still assessing that the risk of the coronavirus to the American people was low,” Pence said.
“The very first case, which was someone who had been in China — in late January around the 20th day of January,” Pence told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “The reality is that we could’ve been better off if China had been more forthcoming.”
There are serious questions about China’s cooperating in sharing data about the specifics of the virus. But anyone watching the news could have concluded the new respiratory disease sooner or later was likely to arrive on US shores.
In fact, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that his fire chief made such an evaluation on Super Bowl weekend — February 1 and 2 — and ordered protective equipment for his crews, who are as a result now well stocked.
Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened another front in the effort to deflect criticism from the President on Tuesday, saying that the impeachment saga had distracted Washington from the looming threat of the virus.
His spin was enthusiastically taken up by Republican senators.
“I think there’s no question it was a huge distraction,” Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt told Hugh Hewitt on his radio show Wednesday. “Now it doesn’t mean we weren’t paying any attention to what was happening in China or other places, but there’s no doubt it was a huge distraction.”
On the same show, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said there was “zero interest manifested by either (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and (Senate Democratic Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer in the coronavirus outbreak, in anything problematic occurring in China and the Chinese Communist government’s coverup of the coronavirus outbreak.”
Such arguments ignore the primary responsibility of the executive in keeping Americans safe. A future investigation will for sure probe whether Washington as a whole took the investigation sufficiently seriously and may find that Congress was asleep at the switch.
But the impeachment argument is questionable for several reasons. First, the most visible public official dismissing the seriousness of the coronavirus threat was the President himself.
And Trump was acquitted on charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress after a Senate trial on February 5.
On January 26, Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, called on the administration to declare a public health emergency over coronavirus to free up funding.
The media rights holders of the Ghana Premier League StarTimes are reeling from the suspension of the Ghana Premier League due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Major Sporting activities the world over has grounded to a halt with the Ghana Premier League no exception as the COVID-19 pandemic bites hard.
The Head of Marketing at StarTimes Ghana Limited, Mrs Akorfa Djakui Banson says that the coronavirus induced break has had a toll on the companies finances.
She disclosed how the pandemic induced suspensionis having an impact on them in an interview with Kumasi based Akoma Fm.
“The impact is great because at StarTimes we are the media rights holders/partners of the Ghana Premier League.
“You know we deal with content and If the league is postponed then it means that we will not have any content for our viewers and this will impact negatively on our revenue in terms of subscription numbers and in terms of advert sales”
“For now it is a global pandemic but our legal team will hold talks with the GFA to see the way forward
“It’s nobody’s fault that has caused the league to be suspended because its a global pandemic but we will hold talks with the GFA to see the way forward” she added.
In Tokyo, crowds have been congregating in parks each day to see the cherry blossoms at peak bloom. Some 6,000 miles away in Washington DC, people were doing the exact same thing.
Like so many people in so many countries, they are willfully ignoring government advice to stay at home and to keep well away from others, as the coronavirus spreads rapidly, killing thousands and already changing daily life as we know it.
But is it really just the cherry blossoms, or the beaches in Australia and California, or parks in central London that have inspired throngs of people to leave their homes during a pandemic? It’s plausible. There’s little else to do as cities around the world have all but shut down.
There is, however, something else highly appealing about going to these places, and it’s the very thing that threatens to worsen thse pandemic — other people.
It seems that we humans just can’t stay away from one another.
Even in Italy, the country with the most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, 125,000 people have been fined for breaking rules on restriction of movement. Many of these violations were made by people trying to sneak away and meet with other people, Italian media reports.
The desire to be physically near others is human nature. We humans — or our ancestor species, more precisely — have been social creatures since the Stone Age. Many studies have shown that hunter-gatherers formed “bands” as they found it more efficient to find enough food for survival through joint efforts. They also found strength in numbers, fending off threats, whether animal or human, more effectively as a group.
Over a long evolutionary process, humans have developed highly sophisticated societies in which we cooperate to survive and better our lives, studies show.
Today, having consensual physical contact with other people and enjoying the company of others in in the flesh releases all sorts of chemicals in the brain and body — endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin, for example — that essentially give us feelings of happiness and even love.
This is why, when we go to a concert or a football match, it’s not just the athletes or the musicians that give us that sense of euphoria. Being with a lot of other people adds to the kick.
“Not everybody likes these situations, some people hate crowds. But for those that do, being with a lot of other people creates a physiological pleasure, endorphins, etcetera, go off,” said Michael Muthukrishna, an assistant professor of Economic Psychology with the London School of Economics and Political Science.
After events like this, people say they feel more bonded to one another and that they feel part of something whole, he told CNN.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to be part of a bigger thing. Cheering on your own isn’t as good as cheering with a friend, and that’s not as good as cheering in a large crowd chanting war cries. It physiologically creates a sense of the individual dissolving into the whole.”
In these sophisticated societies we have developed, we rely heavily on one another to get by.
In hunter-gatherer days, one person or family may have been responsible for finding food, cooking it, building a home and making clothes. Now we rely on other people from all over the world, with their own sets of knowledge and skills, to carry out different functions essential to surviving, Muthukrishna explains.
“Our society is such that we have a division of labor, and a more complex whole world than even the smartest among us could possibly understand. Each of us understands a small sliver of the world, and the rest is socially acquired,” he said.
“It’s what we call the illusion of explanatory depths — we assume we understand how the world works, but really we have a very poor understanding of most things. We’re happy to trust in the people who do. For example, you believe in germs. You might have seen them under microscope, but really you believe in it because you trust people that know that germs exist, even though you don’t actually have access to that information.”
We also really like touching
The coronavirus and need to physically distance ourselves has put much of our lives online. We have work meetings by video conference, we Skype with friends and family we can’t meet, and we watch Netflix instead of going out for dinner.
But anyone who has had a long-distance relationship or has friends and family in far-flung places knows that Skype just isn’t the same.
Partly, it’s because we really like to touch each other.
Giving someone a hug, handshake or a kiss releases those same chemicals in the brain and body that make us happy. This natural process develops right from the start of life — touch is the first sense a baby develops in the womb.
Newborns are able see very little and their hearing is murky for some time after birth, so skin-to-skin contact is highly recommended between parents and babies to build bonds.
There are all sorts of health benefits too. Skin-to-skin contact between mothers and babies regulates the baby’s heart rate and breathing, stimulates digestion, helps fend off infection, stimulates the release of hormones to support breastfeeding and reduces cortisol, a stress hormone that suppresses the immune system, numerous studies show.
The health benefits of human touch carry on through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, according to Tiffany Field, founder and director of the University of Miami’s Touch Research Institute. Touch helps strengthens the immune system in fighting infections and plays a role in reducing mental health problems, Field has found in her research.
People in the United States, as in many other countries, are becoming less and less tactile with each other, she said.
Field is concerned that human health is suffering as we increasingly isolate ourselves physically and become engrossed in communicating via technology.
This “touch starvation” is evident in a growing industry of professional cuddlers, who offer safe spaces for people who need hugs and other forms of platonic touching.
Field has carried out several studies that show that touch-deprived children and teenagers show higher levels of aggression. In one, she compared teenagers hanging out at a McDonald’s in Paris with some at a McDonald’s in Miami.
“The kids in Paris, who were getting more touch and were touching each other more, were less physically and verbally aggressive toward each other,” she told CNN.
Field is working on a new study observing people at airport gates, where she says there is a concerning lack of human contact.
“We’re seeing that people are not touching each other. They’re on their cell phones, which is a real problem. People are now used to not touching each other — there’s very little handshaking and hugging, there’s very little touch going on,” she said.
There are very few studies on humans for touch deprivation for ethical reasons, but the concept of human contact as a basic need developed in the 1950s and 1960s, when researcher Harry Harlow experimented with monkeys.
In a landmark study, he removed baby monkeys from their mothers and created wire-framed “mother” dummies. He consistently found that the monkeys deprived of touch showed serious behavioral problems. When given the choice, even when very hungry, the monkeys would choose a “mother” dummy covered in soft fabric to cuddle with over the plain wire-framed dummy offering milk.
Prisoners who have been kept in solitary confinement have often described a lack of physical human contact as torture. Chelsea Manning, for example, in 2016 wrote of what she called “no-touch torture” when kept in a cell alone for long periods of time.
Stay connected
It seems particularly perverse that human contact is so beneficial to health and fighting disease, yet during this pandemic, human contact is literally our biggest threat. But experts agree the benefits of social distancing far outweigh the risk of socializing.
So what can be done about it? Field is hoping that staying at home will actually mean more touching. Give your loved ones a back rub, Field suggests, and if you’re living alone during this period, then touch yourself.
“We know that moving the skin is critical for health reasons. Moving the skin puts the body into a more relaxed state. The vagal activity in the brain increases, and that slows the heart rate and lowers stress hormones, and that can even in the long run kill bacterial, viral and cancer cells,” she said.
“And someone giving a back rub will get just as much out of it as the recipient.”
If you’re living alone, do “self massage,” Field says.
“Get a daily dose of it. You can reach most parts of your own body.”
And on the social side, it’s important to stay connected in non-physical ways, says Bianca Suanet, a sociologist from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
She said she was concerned about the impact of social distancing in the elderly, who may be more vulnerable to feelings of loneliness.
“This period of social distancing is likely most difficult for older adults that lack a partner and a social support network that looks after them,” said Suanet.
“People that have a solid social support network might also miss face to face social contact, but if people have someone that gives them a call once in a while and can bring them groceries and other necessities if necessary, that solves already some of the problems,” she said.
“Helping others is one of the best ways to feel connected to other people.”
The National Sports Authority (NSA)boss, Professor Peter Twumasi, has disclosed to Happy FM that renovation works at the Baba Yara Sports Sports Stadium is scheduled for completion in October.
The Baba Yara Sports Stadium was closed down for renovation works prior to the 6th March anniversary celebration.
According to him, works are still underway at the venue and if there are no delays the facility should be completed and handed over to government in October.
“At the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, the contractor was able to work on the facility before the 6th March anniversary celebrations.
“The contractor is still working and by October we expect him to be done with the work.
If the lockdown does not affect his work.He will be done and hand it over to usâ€, he told Happy FM.
He added that the NSA is also fumigating the various stadia across the country to also fight the Covid-19.
“We have done fumigation across our venues in the country. We just finished with the Accra Sports Stadium and we will move to the other regionsâ€.
“We are maintaining the pitches to ensure the facilities are in good shape before football returnsâ€.
Five (5) persons who are taking advantage of the lockdown to steal wares of market women selling essential commodities in the Kumasi central market have been arrested.
Market women on Wednesday [April 1, 2020] complained that some unscrupulous persons are taking advantage of the situation to loot their shops and steal wares of traders at the blindside of the security agencies.
Armed with the information, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) taskforce put strategies in place and succeeded in arrested the five suspected thieves for allegedly stealing tubers of Yam at Kumasi Central Market
MyNewsGh.com has gathered that the suspects have since been taken to the Zongo Police Station for further interrogation and would be arraigned before court.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last week by Executive Instrument (EI) announced a lockdown in some parts of the country as part of measures to curtail the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Legendary sound engineer, Zapp Mallet has taken a swipe at the celebrated rapper, Sarkodie for pairing him with some music producers.
There is a current trend of music producers and musicians challenging each other to hits they have as a way of calming down nerves.
Sarkodie in this vain, decided to call on some award-winning music producers to also jump on this challenge in Ghana.
The rapper called on producers such as, Zapp Mallet, Jay Q, Appietus; Kaywa, Hammer, and MoG.
However, Zapp who was not happy for being paired by these young music producers taking into consideration how long he has been in the game and his contributionregistered his displeasure on his twitter page.
The legendary Sound engineer stated distastefully that, “There is something called respect which is lacking in Ghana today. For instance, you don’t compare somebody who was churning out hits before you made Kindergarten with your mate who just started a couple of years back. Show some respect, You will also get thereâ€
A porridge seller has died after she was struck by a vehicle at Adiebeba, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
Suweiba Jibrim, 28, was selling at her usual joint when the incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, April 1, 2020.
She was confirmed dead by officers who were called to the horrifying scene.
Her body was dismembered and the remains were deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, when Dailymailgh.com visited.
Francis Baah, who survived with minor injuries, is on medication after he was discharged from a hospital.
Baah said the vehicle which was coming from the Ahodwo-roundabout while on top speed, veered towards their direction when the driver lost control.
“As usual I went to buy porridge this morning by the roadside. While I was standing there, a vehicle which was on top speed came from the direction of town. It came towards our direction and hit us. I could not get up when I fell, then I saw a Taxi cab driver and called him.
“He came to my aid and took me to the hospital. From the hospital, we proceeded to the police post at Ahodwo and we were asked to go to the Asokwa Police station. I had a cut on my lips, my head was also affected and I also sustained injuries on the arm,†he narrated to Dailymailgh.com.
Residents of Ahinsan, where the deceased lived, are in shock.
Sympathizers, family members and onlookers gathered to mourn the porridge seller, who, many described as a calm and respectful person.
Mother of the deceased, Memuna Jibrim who could not hold back her tears described her daughter as a hard worker, adding that she has lost a caretaker.
“I have nothing to say, I have left everything to God,†she tearfully shouted.
Meanwhile, the suspect driver of the Hyundai vehicle with registration number GR 682-16 has been detained at the Asokwa District Police Command as part of investigations.
The vehicle has since been towed and parked at the police station.
Suweiba, who left behind two children will be buried in accordance with Islamic rites, one of her relatives told Dailymailgh.com.
Ghanaian midfielder Rabiu Mohammed could be set for a new club in the summer when his contract with Paris Fc expires.
The soon to be free agent is not close to agreeing new contract terms with his club as his contract expires on the 30th June 2020.
Rabiu has been an integral member of the Paris FC since joining on a free transfer from Russian side Krylya Sovetov Samara
The midfielder who will be a free agent at end of the season could begin talks with foreign clubs about a potential move.
Virtually all the leagues in the world are on break due to the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 37,000 people across the world.
With no end in sight it remains unclear when the French league will start and the midfielder may be forced to stay for a few more weeks in order to complete the season before departing for a new adventure.
The 30 year old midfielder has been a regular for the Parisians making 14 appearances and scoring a goal in the second tier league in France.
The Human Resource Directorate of the Ministry of Health has begun the enrollment of all 2017/18 batch of nursing trainees for deployment into various health facilities across the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Akufo-Addo after one of his televised address to the nation attracted criticism for announcing plans of deploying retired health professionals to fight the deadly virus inspite of the backlog of newly certified trainees who have been left home without jobs for many years.
But Deputy Health Minister Alexander Kodjo Kom Abban in an interview with Blessed Sogah on ‘State of the Nation’ revealed that the said categories of trained health professionals will be engaged for permanent employment.
“The human resource directorate is quickly making all the moves for the 2017/18 nurses who already graduated and have gone through their rotation to be quickly enrolled, so, in that aspect their employment is already done,†he said.
The minister added that due to the exigencies of the time, some staff integration protocols may be waved for the new recruits.
“So, all the various stages that they have to go through over some lengthy period is going to be shortened so that they can quickly deploy them to assist in this fight,†Mr Abban stated.
Ghanaian Instagram model and media personality Efia Odo has reacted to the alleged sex video of musician Kwesi Arthur which got leaked.
Many people have pointed accusing fingers at her saying she was the lady in the video.
However, Odo has said she is not the one, stressing that people must note the difference.
According to her, she does not scream when having sexual intercourse like the girl did in the said video.
Efia Odo was disappointed that people could say she was the one in the video.
She quickly deleted that tweet and replaced it with one about coronavirus:
Meanwhile, Kwesi Arthur himself has sadly commented on the video saying they are all rumours.
A close look at those in the video by YEN.com.gh proves that indeed, the two are not Efia Odo and Kwesi Arthur, though the guy wears the same hairstyle.
He was earlier accused of “sleeping with plenty” girls, but he denied it.
Kwesi Arthur explained that the fake reports were being peddled by his detractors.
He stressed that no matter how hard they try, those people can never bring him down.
The deadly coronavirus disease has spread to five regions as Easter region records its first confirmed case.
According to the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu Eastern region is the latest region to join the league of region with confirmed cases of Covid-19.
Announcing the latest confirmed cases at a press briefing Accra the minister said as this morning the country has recorded 195 cases.
Giving the breakdown, he said, the Greater Accra Region has recorded 174 of the confirmed cases, 10 in the Northern Region, Ashanti Region has nine cases, while Upper West and Eastern Regions had one each.
He said a total of 4,560 tests for the virus had been conducted of which 195 people tested positive for Covid-19.
He said out of the 195 confirmed cases, 38 patients have so far been discharged; as test run on them proved negative; however, they were currently under self-quarantine.
Mr Agyeman-Manu said the death toll stands at five and total recoveries remain three.
The two research centers in the country namely: Noguchie Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR) have so far conducted a total of 4,560 tests for COVID-19 in the country.
Dr Badu Sarkodie, the Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), in a breakdown, said out of the total tests conducted in the country, 4,225 were from NMIMR while the remaining 335 came from KCCR.
Government in a bid to curtail the spread of the virus has imposed a two-week restriction on the movement of persons in some 40 localities in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions.
They comprise 26 areas in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), which includes Awutu Senya East, a municipality in the Central Region and 14 in the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and adjoining districts.
Adina Tembi, the beloved for Afropop staples including “Too Late,†“Sika,†and “Makoma†taps dancehall star, Stonebwoy for “Take Care of You,†her new submission.
The impressive duet, which ensues over Street Beatz instrumentation, sees the two award-winning performers exchange the exuberant promises on which long-term romances are typically founded on.
A highly polished accompanying video, directed by KP Selorm, features cameo appearances by hiplife doyen Reggie Rockstone, and celebrity makeup artist, FaceMechanicGH.
30, Adina lays claim to both Ghana and South Africa, and is signed to the New African Movement. Active since 2008, the chanteuse has benefited from collaborations from A-list colleagues including Trigmatic, Sarkodie, Okyeame Kwame, EL, Akwaboah, and King Promise.
The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. John Boadu has said that from all indications, the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is forever committed to defeating the corona virus pandemic which has become a global canker and threatening the economies of nations including Ghana. He cited measures put in place by the president as an evidence of his commitment.
He made this statement when he donated Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to Assin Fosu Municipal Health Directorate for onward distribution. The items include 45 hospital beds, 100 Veronica buckets and stands, 30 gallons of alcohol based hand sanitizer, 200 liquid soaps, 100 bowls, disposable gloves, cartons of antiseptic soap, tissues etc. This donation, he said, is aimed at augmenting the efforts of government in the fight against the spread of the deadly Covid -19.
Mr. John Boadu hinted that what he was doing in Assin Fosu was going to be replicated around the country to ensure that everyone is adequately educated and protected against the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the National Deputy Director of Communications for the NPP, Mr Yaw Preko said the fight against Covid-19 needs collective effort, therefore it must be tackled without any political interference.
On his part, the Municipal Chief Executive for the area, Mr Nicholas Fiifi Baako assured that all measures are in place to ensure the safety of the citizenry. He advised the public to adhere to all the preventive measures put in place.
Former Kumawood actor, Bernard Nyarko, one of the biggest and popular personalities on the screens has come out to say that he has stopped acting and is never going back to that profession again.
Bishop Bernard, as he is affectionately called in the movie industry, is now a full-time pastor after he was reportedly hit with an unknown illness.
In the video sighted by ghpage.com, the man of God whiles administering to his church congregation noted that he has followed the footsteps of ace actor Majid Michelle.
Both have now dedicated themselves to the ministry of God.
In his sermon, he revealed that he stopped acting because the industry is full of evil.
He went on to explain that in acting, one would meet new people especially women every day and almost all of them want to be your friend and if care is not taken you will end up having them in your bed.
“If I have stopped acting, I have stopped because of its full of evil. Every day you would meet different people, every day you would see different girls all of the wants you to become their friends and some of them are coming from the marine sea, they should take their movie†he said in the presence of his congregation.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) after a series of deliberations says it has thrown a challenge to all herbal medicine practitioners across the country to develop medications which can prove to be helpful in the fight against coronavirus.
Already the Ministry of Health has given an executive clearance to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to allow the importation of active ingredients for the manufacturing of hydroxychloroquine to augment the stock within the country for the use of pharmaceutical companies.
However, Deputy Health Minister, Alexander Kodjo Kom Abban says traditional and herbal medicine producers have also been engaged on COVID-19 in a bid to solicit their efforts and to explore the potentials of the orthodox practitioners in the fight against the pandemic.
Speaking to Blessed Sogah on ‘State of Affairs’ a news analysis programme on Class91.3FM Mr Aban said: “The traditional Medicine practitioners in Ghana, they were here in their numbers at the ministry, we have had discussions with them and the challenge has been had thrown to them if any can bring a solution to it, those in allopathic practice and those in traditional medicine practice.â€
According to Mr Abban, the challenge has begun yielding positive results as some local herbal medicine manufacturers have produced hand sanitisers in large quantities for the use of the general public.
The Mpraeso Caucus, made up of indigenes of Kwahu Mpraeso have donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the Kwahu South District Assembly in the Eastern Region to help fight against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The items include Veronica buckets, hand sanitizers, tissues, gloves, liquid soaps, nose masks, waste bins and bowls.
Presenting the items on behalf of the Caucus, Nana Abrah Appiah, the Chairman of the Association who doubles as the Krontihene of Kwahu Mpraeso, said the gesture was to ensure that citizens in the Mpraeso area adopt frequent washing of hands with soap under running water to help avoid the spread of the coronavirus menace in the community.
He said the Association appreciates the initiative that the government had proposed to help minimize the fast spreading of the coronavirus in the country, hence the donation.
Nana Appiah said the group has taken it upon itself to provide more of the PPEs to help avoid the spread of the disease to the Kwahu area.
Nana Appiah said, the items would be positioned at vantage points such as the Mpraeso palace, central market, lorry parks, police station, the Zongo palace, fire station and the Magistrate Court among others.
He said the Caucus was established four years ago and had achieved remarkable successes in supporting education and promoting sporting activities in schools across the District.
He said the Association had distributed teaching and learning material (TLMs) to schools in the area, organised debates and quizzes for students, providing incentives to hardworking teachers and supporting brilliant but needy students in the area.
Nana Appiah urged the citizens to be responsible for the maintenance of the items to ensure its optimum usage.
He, therefore, entreated the people to abide by the government’s initiative by avoiding handshaking, hugging, maintaining social distance and avoidance of social gathering in the communities to avoid the spread of the disease.
Receiving the items on behalf of the Kwahu South District Assembly, Mr Emmanuel Atta Ofori, the District Chief Executive, applauded the Caucus for the gesture and said the items would go a long way to complement the government’s efforts in fighting against the disease.
He said the Assembly had already taken steps to provide PPEs to 26 electoral areas in the District and therefore promised to distribute the items provided for the safety of the citizens.
A violent rainstorm has ripped off 60 houses and displaced 460 occupants at Kwaekese a farming community in Kwahu Afram Plains North District of the Eastern Region.
Two persons were injured. One of them identified as Adzo Gbadegbe was seriously hurt hence admitted at Donkokrom Presbyterian Hospital.
The displaced residents made-up of 195 adults and 265 children have been temporarily sheltered in classrooms of St.Theresa Basic school.
The incident has affected the power supply to the community as electricity cables and poles were also destroyed.
Officials of the National Disaster Management Organization, NADMO, have visited the community for impact assessment but yet to supply relief items to the victims.
Assembly Member for Bampo Electoral Area Amuh Yaw, appealed to Non-Governmental Organizations to come to the aide of the community to recover from the devastation.
He said the victims are poor farmers hence will be difficult to rebuild their damaged houses in the shortest possible time without external intervention.
According to him, due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, it is important that the victims are supported to move out of the overcrowded classrooms.
Dr Samuel Amo Tobbin, the Chief Executive Officer of the Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited (TPL), has called on the Food and Drugs Authority to as a matter of urgency, exercise strict measures on the bottling of hand sanitizers.
Although local manufacturers have been encouraged to produce hand sanitizers amid its shortage on the Ghanaian market following the recording of confirmed cases of COVID-19, he said, how some of them bottled the sanitizers was worrying and could serve as a threat to lives.
“A lot of them in the markets are bottled like how drinks are usually bottled, so if a hand sanitizer, especially the water-like ones are poured into these bottles, a child could mistake it for a drink and this could cause a big problem,†he said.
Speaking about the increment of prices of hand sanitizers, he said, even as the ingredients used for making it has become expensive as a result of their scarcity, manufacturers and retailers had to consider the unfortunate situation at hand and reduce the prices in order to protect the public.
He made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
Dr Tobbin said TPL tried to import hydroxyl chloroquine drugs from India, however, the drug which sold at $18 per kilo, was now selling at $ 1,050 dollars per kilo.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has warned companies against exporting them from India.
He believed this proved how valuable the drug was in addition to others as proposed by the World Health Organization in the fight against the pandemic, adding that, he was optimistic the world would soon find a remedy to the global canker.
The Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited earlier donated ¢251,000.00 worth of immune boosting drugs like Tobcee Vitamin C tablets, Zinvite Capsules, Glutamine Plus tablets, veronica buckets, hand sanitizers, nose masks, and disposable gloves to the Ministry of Health in the fight against COVID-19.
Dr Tobbin said the gesture was to give back to society what the company had gained from them.
“The Tobinco Group has reached this state due to the contribution of the public. So when the same people are encountering a crisis, it is necessary to give back to them,†he said.
The company, he said, would also distribute similar products to traditional rulers at remote areas and district capitals, he said.
He said with the exception of encouraging people to practice personal hygiene, COVID-19 has caused a great damage to every sector of the economy.
Former Communications Minister under the Mahama-led administration has expressed ecstasy at the fact that the coronavirus has caused the current government to use health facilities provided for the country by John Mahama.
The NPP government since coming to power have been under pressure to make use of all the health facilities provided for the country by the former administration.
These calls have over the years not yielded results for reasons best known to the people in power.
However, with the coronavirus pandemic, some of these facilities which were taking forever to be completed and some used by the country is ready in this period.
Speaking on the development in a post shared on social media he was happy that the virus has caused the needed change.
“Coronavirus has provoked the conscience of those who neglected these health projects. May they strive to do better going forward. And may we improve on our health system and make it resilient to serve the needs of all Ghanaiansâ€, he said.
Read his full statement here:
Finally, COVID-19 has caused the use of the Bank Hospital. As for telling Ghanaians everyone is a VIP, the response can be found on the streets and at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
On the streets, VIPs use sirens and at KIA, VIPs and VVIPs travel through their designated segments. Government must respect the intelligence of Ghanaians, simple.
Furthermore, if all “Ghanaians were VIPs†then why make that distinction in the first place?
Why waste the bank hospital for years?
Why waste the University of Ghana Medical Centre until citizens began agitating?
Why leave several hospital projects to rot across the country just because of partisan politics?
Coronavirus has provoked the conscience of those who neglected these health projects. May they strive to do better going forward. And may we improve on our health system and make it resilient to serve the needs of all Ghanaians.
