Author: newsfilegh

Several African states have imposed far-reaching restrictions in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. South Africa has closed its borders to nationals of the worst-affected countries and banned large public gatherings, while Kenya has also imposed sweeping travel restrictions. The measures are an attempt to prevent a major outbreak on a continent with poor health services. At least 26 African states have so far been affected by the virus. Most of the confirmed cases involve people arriving from Europe and North America. But South Africa imposed the most severe restrictions on its citizens since the end of white-minority…

Schools in Ghana have been ordered to suspend all public activities on the back of two confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus in the country. “All schools are to suspend all public activities such as speech and prize-giving days until further directives are given by the Director-General,” the Ghana Education Service announced Friday. Two persons, a Ghanaian and Norwegian, who recently arrived in the country tested positive to the covid-19 pandemic which has infected over….and killed more than ….globally. Health officials have since moved in to contain the spread of the virus by conducting contact tracing. The Norwegian Embassy in…

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has in a last minute move cancelled its Open Day event for this year, which was scheduled to take place across the country on Saturday March 14. “This has become necessary due to current operational exigencies,” a statement issued Friday by the Public Relations Directorate of GAF explained but did not give further details. It is unclear whether the cancellation is partly related to the two confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus in the country on Thursday. The annual event gives civilians, mostly school children, the opportunity to tour the various military installations across the…

Staff of some United Nation (UN) agencies in Ghana have been directed to stay off work after it emerged one of the two recorded coronavirus cases in Ghana is their employee. The staff who returned to Ghana from Turkey on February “started feeling ill two days ago”. The infected person said to be a Ghanaian staff, according to the UN authorities in Ghana, last reported for work on Thursday March 12. When TV3 news team visited the UNDP and UNICEF offices in Ghana Friday, there was no brisk activity at the premises. A female staff, who spoke on condition of…

A South African king, a nephew of the late Nelson Mandela, has been arrested after allegedly going on the rampage with an axe in the palace. Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, freed from jail on parole in December, broke into the Thembu royal palace in the early hours. Witnesses said he was searching for his son, the regent, who was appointed the acting monarch while he was in prison. The regent escaped through a window, but his wife has been injured and taken to hospital, a royal spokesman said. King Dalindyebo was sentenced to 12 years in jail for kidnapping, assault and arson,…

All staff of the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana have been quarantined as one of them has tested positive of the deadly coronavirus on Thursday. The Embassy was forced to shut down Friday until further notice as health authorities move in to contain a possible spread of the coronavirus which has infected more than 118,000 people and killed close to 4,300 worldwide It said in a statement Friday that staff of the Embassy “are operating from home”, noting the infected “person is in quarantine”. “All staff are also in quarantine, and we are fully committed to assist with containment,” the statement…

Two confirmed cases of the deadly novel coronavirus in Ghana have forced the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital in Accra to limit visits to patients on admission at the facility. With immediate effect from Friday, March 13, patients on admission can receive only two relatives as visitors, the hospital management announced in a statement a day after Ghana recorded its first cases. “In the case of the Department of Child Health only parents/guardians of the patient are permitted to visit. This measure has become necessary because patients are already vulnerable and can therefore easily be infected,” it said. The hospital is encouraging…

Aviation services in Ghana are likely to be disrupted as workers of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) threaten to withdraw some critical services at the country’s airports from Monday. The decision, they explained, has become necessary in order to safeguard the safety of flights within the Accra Accra Flight Information Region (FIR). According to the workers, authorities have failed to ensure the removal of the board chairman for the GCAA, Air Cdre. Rexford G.M. Acquah (retd), who they have accused of unprofessionalism. In February this year, the workers claimed alleged the board chairman was working outside his mandate and…

Senior law lecturer, Dr Ernest Kofi Abotsi, has underscored the need for Ghana’s Electoral Commission to reason with political parties on key initiatives in order to build consensus ahead of the 2020 general elections. Recent controversies around the management and administration of the December 7 polls, he observed, has become a cause of worry. The EC has come under criticism from civil society groups and largely a coalition political parties over its decision to procure new biometric and electoral devices for creation of a new voters’ register and for the conduct of the December polls. The Commission took the decision…