The Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) says the government can only be successful in staving off the spread of the deadly coronavirus, only if it declares a lockdown.

Although the BPS commends earlier measures announced by the President, Nana Addo Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the COVID-19 Response Committee, it says what government must do now is to take “drastic and decisive measures” to avert dire consequences.

“We have independently assessed the fears, facts and available figures relevant to COVID-19 in Ghana and are fully convinced that despite all measures in place to avoid lateral or community spread and ensure public safety, the health system lacks the capacity to contain a mass outbreak in the event of occurrence,” BPS stated in a release issued Sunday, March 22, 2020.

The Ghana Health Service on Sunday confirmed, the number of positive cases has risen to 24 with one death in Kumasi.

The President, Nana Akufo-Addo on Saturday announced the closure of the country’s ports- land sea and air- as part of further measures to reduce the rate at which the cases were going up.

But the BPS says in the face of current realities, effecting a lockdown- partial or total- later will be ineffective at discontinuing a further spread and subsequently, pose a significant threat to human security. 

There is more in the document attached