person was in a crucial state. the ghs claimed covid-19 infections were increasing but not at alarming rate. government responses government through the moys donated gh¢1 million to the gfa to help football clubs playing behind closed doors due to covid-19. the president nana akufo-addo addressed the nation on ways to fight the pandemic. he claimed the country was making plans to procure the covid-19 vaccine. the national covid-19 trust fund donated an amount and a pick-up to the ncc to help it carry out educating the public on the pandemic. the minister for employment and labor relations claimed an amount of gh¢320 million was spent on health workers as part of the government's covid-19 relief package. ghana was claimed to lay hold of the delivery of the covid-19 vaccine before the end of the first quarter of 2021. government revealed it had plans to renew the imposition of restrictions act, 2020, which allowed the government to impose the covid-19 restrictions. the national covid-19 trust fund claimed a total of ghs 57million was received from donations and provided over ghs 40million for the buying of ppes for health institutions. according to the information minister, the president was to meet a cabinet to discuss on the reopening of schools. economic impacts the governor of bog claimed the effects of the pandemic might result in the increase of npls among banks in the country. the gipc partnered a business group to produce some steps when taken would boost ghana's business environment. the gss released information on the economy's performance preparing for post-covid-19 recovery. it was claimed ghana's economy experienced a recession due to the impact of the pandemic. the governor of bog claimed the impact of ghana's economy and the pandemic would be felt after the world reached herd immunity. bans and restrictions the health advisor to the president said football games would still be played behind closed doors. more than 50 travelers were captured at the land borders of ghana using illegal routes as the borders were still closed. the president in his address to the nation claimed beaches, cinemas, pubs and nightclubs should remain closed, and also the land and sea borders of ghana should remain closed. gta cautioned it would deal with anyone flouting the covid-19 laid down protocols. disinfection and fumigation the kumasi airport was disinfected during the third phase of the exercise by zoomlion ghana limited. kia was disinfected as part of ghana's effort to fight the pandemic. financial it was projected that financial metrics of banks in the country would face reversals among others due to the impact of the pandemic. reported cases for details see timeline of the covid-19 pandemic in ghana president akufo-addo made his 21st address to the nation on the fight against covid-19. he claimed ghana was expecting to receive a delivery of the covid-19 vaccine. he also revealed 712 positive cases were recorded at kia. the president claimed there was no food shortages during the covid-19 pandemic. a member of the country's covid-19 response team claimed ghana would make sure the vaccines are safe for ghanaians. the director of nmimr claimed the rise in covid-19 infections was due to the non-adherence of the safety protocols. accra was said to have over 50% of ghana's covid-19 active cases as at 10 january 2021. the president disclosed the new strain of covid-19 was recorded in the country. the cdc also disclosed the new 501.v2 variant was in ghana. the volta region was claimed to have recorded 37 covid-19 cases in 2 weeks. government responses government was claimed to embark on a series of covid-19 sensitization campaigns. it also extended the free usage of water and electricity for 3 months. the ecg published some guidelines for the implementation of the extension of electricity usage. government would bear the cost of the covid-19 isolation and treatment of passengers at kia upon arrival. government partnered with zoomlion to exhibit machines for nationwide spraying in the fight against the virus. government through ghs decided to provide ppes, hygiene materials and fumigate schools for the health and safety of students. government was claimed to monitor schools to curb the spread of covid-19. government provided about 10 million hand sanitizers to school children. the president claimed the committee deciding on the covid-19 vaccine were done with their work. representative of the president claimed there would be a vaccine roll-out in the country. he also claimed the government would do all it can to protect school children. he also claimed negotiations would be done with an international pharmaceutical companies to secure a covid-19 vaccine for the country. the covid-19 trust fund was claimed to have received about gh¢57.1 million in cash donations in december 2020. government began distribution of 22 million ppes and other items to schools. the president directed that the amount paid for testing of covid-19 at kia should be reduced. the government claimed it started meetings with some manufacturers in the country to develop locally made covid-19 vaccines. bans and restrictions the president revealed there should be no mass gatherings in schools and also no sporting activities. an mp urged the president to open the land and sea borders of ghana. the president told students not to make him shut down schools again as they return to school, he also claimed to reintroduce restrictions in case the country's covid-19 cases keep on rising, he also claimed funerals, weddings and other events caused the rise of covid-19. 5 burkinabes were arrested for entering into ghana using illegal routes. 16 foreigners were arrested for entering into the country through illegal routes. 97 people were arrested by the police for not putting on nose masks. 105 people were also arrested for failing to put on nose masks. 188 people were also arrested for mot putting on nose masks. 27 people were also arrested due to breaching of the protocols. 85 people were also arrested for violating the safety protocols. 52 people were also arrested for flouting the safety protocols. 85 persons were arrested for not wearing the nose masks at different places. about 52 persons who disregarded the safety protocols were processed for court. government threatened to reintroduce restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. the president reintroduced the ban on social gatherings to halt the spread. the gfa asked hearts of oak to play matches in empty stadium after flouting the safety protocols. economic impacts the president claimed the government's decisions in response to the pandemic would help the economy. the economy was expected to rebound slowly due to the pandemic. the president claimed the partial lock down affected the economy of ghana. the president of guta claimed freight charges has gone high. prices of nose masks in the country increased. businesses in the country were afraid there might be a lock down if covid-19 cases continue to rise. a director claimed economic activities would be slowed if the country is locked down, he also claimed ghana lacks the resources to embark on the lock down. fda were claimed to have registered locally-made products despite the pandemic. economy of ghana was impacted by the pandemic as government total expenditure increased. the banking sector was claimed to be safe to face any shocks due to the pandemic. disinfection and fumigation some schools in the accra, north, oti and ahafo regions were disinfected as part of the measures to stop the spread of the virus. 37 military hospital closed down its unit for fumigation exercise. zoomlion disinfected the kumasi airport. the gacl and moa partnered with zoomlion to disinfect kia. zoomlion also disinfected the ghana prisons headquarters. they also disinfected the nsawam prisons. they also disinfected about 50 police stations in the bono region. health issues a doctor at kath claimed the rise in covid-19 cases were due to non-compliance of the safety measures. the ashanti regional health directorate gave out guidelines on covid-19 for parents, schools etc. the president appealed to laboratories who test covid-19 cases to regularly update ghs on confirmed cases. a nurse revealed the ga east hospital was overwhelmed in the rise of covid-19 cases. a us-based ghanaian surgeon was claimed to complete a multi-million dollar pharmaceutical plant was it was stopped due to the pandemic. gma appealed for health workers to volunteer to work at covid-19 treatment centres. it contradicted claims political parties can not be blamed for the rise in covid-19 cases. the head of disease surveillance claimed the over stretch on facilities was partly due to the review of the service's guidelines of covid-19 management. nyaho medical centre decided to refer all non-covid-19 patients to other hospitals. some male patients were said to have difficulty in erection for sexual pleasure after recovering from the virus. reported cases for details see timeline of the covid-19 pandemic in ghana knust researchers received approval by fda to trial potential treatment of covid-19 using this herb cryptolepis sanguinolenta, known locally as nibima, kadze and gangamau. on 2 february, ghana recorded 772 new covid-19 cases pushing the total active case to 5,515. eight new covid-19 deaths raised the death toll to 424. the fda approved a herbal medicine for trials to treat the virus. the researchers were from the school of public health at knust. they later warned against the use of the herb as a remedy for covid-19. some traders in accra expressed their views concerning the herb. on 24 february, ghana became the first country to receive covid-19 vaccines by covax. government responses the president claimed about 17.6 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine would be procured by june. the government outlined categories of people for the rollout of the vaccine. the government also was claimed to have put in place messaging systems on the virus to ghanaians. the country was said to have made an amc for about 2.4 million doses of a vaccine. the minister for foreign affairs claimed there was a need for international cooperation to fight against covid-19. the gsa claimed the government's epi would be used in distributing the covid-19 vaccine. ambassador of germany to ghana claimed germany gave covid-19 relief items worth 25 million euros to ghana. government was claimed to have ordered 355,000 of astrazeneca vaccines. more than $200 million was spent for the procurement of the vaccine. both astrazeneca and sputnik v were approved for use in the country. government planned to build 111 district hospitals. vaccine development committee was established by the government. government paid for the conveyance and deployment of the covid-19 vaccine. disinfection and fumigation the epa head office was closed for disinfection. zoomlion disinfected the gcgl office, they also disinfected some public institutions. zgl disinfected police stations in some regions. wa airport was disinfected by zgl. a researcher at the nmimr urged zgl to disinfect the facility monthly. bans and restrictions the gprtu claimed the reimposing of distancing in vehicles would affect them. it was justified by the president's health advisor not to impose distancing in vehicles. the president in his address to the nation said beaches, night clubs, cinemas and pubs should be shut, he also urged workplaces to run on shift system. it was clarified that marriage ceremonies could be held but not full blown weddings. 83 people were arrested by the police in the upper west for not putting on nose masks. the police also arrested 24 people for going to night clubs and other places. 51 people were arrested for entering the country through illegal means. more than 150 people were arrested for entering into ghana illegally. pubs, cinemas and others disregarded the president's restrictions in some parts of accra. gis in the upper west region put in place measures to stop illegal entry into the country. economic impacts some businesses counted the cost of the banning of social gatherings. gra was claimed to have exceeded its tax target despite the pandemic. the bog claimed the rise in covid-19 cases would threaten the achievement of fiscal deficit by the government. it also claimed the new variant of covid-19 could affect the recovery of the economy. the ceo of agi claimed many businesses were affected by the pandemic in 2020. covid-19 was claimed to have forced banks in ghana to restructure loans made to businesses. the goldman sachs's economics research wing claimed ssa countries could find it hard to