Decline in wearing face masks in public extremely troubling – Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo has bemoaned the decline in the wearing of face masks in public places.

According to him, it is necessary to adhere to all Covid-19 protocols and the wearing of face masks is not an exception to this rule.

“It is extremely troubling to note that the high compliance rate with mask-wearing has fallen alarmingly. The wearing of masks in public places, fellow Ghanaians, continues to be mandatory,” he added.

In his 26th national address on measures his administration has taken to fight the spread of the virus, the President stated that anyone found flouting this directive will have him or herself to blame adding, “we cannot afford to allow the recklessness of a few to endanger the lives of the majority of persons in the country”.

He added that per the data available from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), it appears Ghana is experiencing a third wave of Covid-19 infections.

The increased infections he disclosed, have largely been driven by the Delta Variant of the virus, which has in its wake, increased transmissibility rates according to the World Health Organisation.

The President further hinted that some 18,478,670 vaccines through the COVAX facility African Medicine Supply Platform and other bodies will arrive in the country in the third quarter of the year.

“Government is also in the process of procuring seventeen million (17 million) single dose per person Johnson & Johnson vaccines, through the African Medicine Supply Platform, in this quarter,” he added.

As of July 21, the number of active cases stands at 4,521, this is according Ghana Health Service.

The Service disclosed that twenty-six out of the active cases are severe while 15 others are in critical condition also over 400 new cases have been recorded.