Government commended for exempting public toilets from COVID-19 lockdown

Source: https://citinewsroom.com/  | 31 March 2020

Some residents of Korle Gonno within the Accra metropolis have commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for exempting public toilets from the lockdown being observed in Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa.

Checks by Citi News show that some of the busiest parts of Accra became nearly empty on the first day of the partial lockdown.

The lockdown was announced by government as part of measures to reduce the spread of the Coronivurs disease in the country.

Ghana has recorded 152 Coronavirus cases with five deaths and two recoveries.

However, within some communities visited, residents were seen engaging in normal activities as if there was no restriction.

The residents who were seen near a public toilet facility were on their way to attend to nature’s call.

They said the inclusion of the public toilets to the list of essential services is something worthy of commendation.

“In Ghana, the facilities are few, it’s not like in Europe where when they tell you there is a lockdown, all of them will stay at home because they have their apartments and all sort of things in there but here in Ghana, you have to use the public toilet. So early in the morning, a lot of us use the public toilet and that is why we are here. It is very essential that the public toilets are kept open because we can’t do anything about going to the toilet. I don’t have a toilet in my house so if the public toilet is closed, I won’t have a place to do it. So after I come and use the toilet I wash my hands.”

75% of Ghanaians endorse lockdown in case of security threats – Afrobarometer report

A recent Afrobarometer report released by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) suggests that almost 75 percent of Ghanaians are willing to accept restrictions on their freedom of movements, such as curfews and roadblocks, in times of security threats.

The report which was conducted between 16th September and 3rd October 2019 sampled views from some 2,400 “adult Ghanaians.”

“In late 2019, three-quarters (75%) of Ghanaians said the government should be able to curtail people’s movement in the face of threats to security,” the report said.

It, however, added that the willingness to accept government restrictions on movement was lower in the Greater Accra Region (64%) than in the Ashanti region (79%).