Fellow Ghanaians, good evening

Let me thank you, yet again, for welcoming me into your homes – this being the 20th time since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, and the first since the election of December 7, where Ghanaians, once again, reposed their confidence in me for another four years. When I delivered Update No. 19 on November 18, I indicated that the nation, in the course of that week, was recording, on the average, 130 new cases of infections per day, and, thus, urged all Ghanaians not to let their guard down.

It has been some six weeks since that appeal, and, within that period, we have had a vigorous political campaign season, and elected a President and 275 Members of Parliament by over 13 million Ghanaians, across some 38,000 polling stations, in accordance with the effective safety protocols put in place by the Electoral Commission. Despite the genuine fears of many that we would see a surge in cases, we have, on the contrary, witnessed a stable daily rate of infection of between 130 and 100 cases.

Indeed, the total number of active cases has reduced marginally from 1,139, as at Friday, November 6, 2020, to 946 as at Friday, December 18. Our hospitalisation rates continue to be very low, and our treatment centres are virtually empty. As per data from Ghana Health Service, some regions, at the moment, have no recorded active cases, and long may this continue.

So, on behalf of Government, I want to thank our fellow Ghanaians who continue to adhere to the social distancing, hand washing, hand hygiene, and mask-wearing protocols which serve us well.

Our heroic health workers have seen to 52,675 recoveries, for which the country is extremely grateful. Unfortunately, 13 more deaths from COVID-19 and its complications have been recorded, bringing the total number of fatalities to 333 out of the 53,954 confirmed cases. May their souls rest in peace.
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