Author: newsfilegh

Ghana’s Embassy in the United States has indefinitely suspended the issuances of visas and passports as it moves to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus that has killed thousands of people globally. The suspension which takes effect from today March 17, affects both mailed and in-person services. “All mails received prior to the effective date will be processed and dispatched to applicants,” a statement issued by the Head of Information and Public Affairs of the Embassy announced Monday. It said the Embassy in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has also suspended all official travels…

Chinese billionaire and co-founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, has pledged donate 20,000 testing kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 protective suits to each African country to help the fight against coronavirus. Mr Ma, Asia’s richest person, earlier this month sent consignments of medical supplies to the US and pledged to distribute two million protective masks across Europe. In a statement he said the resources for African countries would be delivered to Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed overseeing distribution to the rest of the continent. Mr Abiy confirmed the news in a series of tweets and spoke of…

Lectures have temporarily been suspended at all health training institutions across the country as Ghana steps up efforts to contain the deadly novel coronavirus imported into the country. Trainees are however to remain on their various campuses until otherwise directed by the Ministry of Health, a statement issued by the Ghana Nurses-Midwife Trainees’ Association (GNMTA) Monday announced. The various institutions have meanwhile been asked to ensure strict measures are put in place “to prevent movement of students in and out of the various campuses to ensure containment”. All activities of GNMTA have also been suspended until further notice The GNMTA…

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) is pushing for government to order all final year students in junior high and senior high schools and their teachers to go home. As Ghana steps up measures to prevent the spread of the six confirmed deadly novel coronavirus cases, all universities, senior high schools and basic schools have since Monday, March 16 been shut down. President Nana Akufo-Addo who announced the shutdown Sunday night said BECE and WASSCE candidates are to attend school to prepare for their examinations, but with prescribed social distancing protocols. President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu however said the…

Actress, Gloria Sarfo has won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 2020 edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) Saturday night. Gloria won the award for her role in ‘Perfect Picture: 10 Years Later’. Her nomination, and subsequent the win, was Ghana’s only nomination at the Awards this year which is the seventh edition. The AMVCA, which is an annual accolade presented by Multichoice and recognises outstanding achievement in television and film, came off at the Eko Hotels & Suites in Lagos Nigeria. Gloria Sarfo beat competition from Toni Tones in ‘King of Boys’, Eucharia Anunobi in ‘The…

Legal practitioners in Ghana are scheduled to meet the Chief Justice on Monday, March 16 to make a strong case for courts to be shut down for the next 14 days as six cases of the deadly coronavirus is recorded in the country. Ghana recorded its first two cases on March 12 causing health officials to raise the country’s alert levels, but two additional cases were recorded subsequently on Friday and two more on Saturday. All the patients, according to health officials, have been quarantined and are in a stable condition. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo later in the night…

Registration for Ghana’s national ID, the Ghana Card, is still ongoing in the Eastern Region despite the suspension of all mass public gatherings on the back of the deadly novel coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak. In a bold move by the government to stem the spread of the virus after six imported cases were confirmed in the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced a ban on church services, weddings, funerals, schools and other social gatherings. “I have decided, in the interest of public safety and protection of our population, to review the public gathering advisories earlier announced,” he said in a…

A routine question from her doctor about menstruation set Kenyan Julian Peter, now 29, down a path that led her to discover she was born without a womb, cervix or a vagina. Twelve years on she shared her story with the BBC’s Anne Ngugi. I was born with a condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH), where you have no womb or vagina, and you can also find yourself with just one kidney. A woman who has MRKH can never get periods. I don’t have a uterus, so I’ve never had periods. This is the normal that I know, I don’t feel…

The Public Services Commission has called on public service institutions and agencies to ban local non-critical conferences, seminars, workshops or face-to-face meetings or gatherings. It encouraged the use of alternative information communication technology approach, such as telephone conferencing to hold meetings. The decision followed the confirmation of six COVID-19 cases in the country, as part of the health crisis the world is facing with the flu-like virus. This was contained in a statement signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency by Dr Janet Ampadu-Fofie, the Chairperson of the Public Services Commission, in Accra. It also urged the offices to…

The wrongful use of alcohol in place of a hand sanitizer could increase one’s chances of picking up Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), Professor Abraham Annan has said. He has therefore advised the public to be cautious in going for ordinary alcohol as disinfectants for hands instead of properly prepared hand sanitzers. He said although alcohol may be good as a disinfectant, it must be used with the right requirements. “Alcohol can be good for disinfection; in the laboratory for example, we use alcohol for disinfection,” he said, adding “but before the…