Leaving home without a face mask is an offence - Akufo-Addo

The wearing of face masks is now mandatory in Ghana as part of efforts in the fight against the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during his 11th national address to the nation on Sunday, June 14, 2020, said the Police and law enforcement agencies will enforce the mandatory wearing of masks in line with the Executive Instrument passed by Parliament.

“Leaving our homes without a face mask or face covering on is an offence. The Police have been instructed to enforce this directive, which is the subject of an Executive Instrument,” President Akufo-Addo said.

“With the doctors and scientists telling us that the virus is transmitted from human contact, through talking, singing, coughing and sneezing, which results in sending droplets of the virus from one person to another, residents of these four regions (Greater Accra, Ashanti Region, Western Region, Central Region), and, indeed, all Ghanaians, must remember that the wearing of masks is now mandatory,” he said.

The President asked Ghanaians to adhere to safety protocols to help defeat the pandemic and also to safe our lives.

“Let me repeat: our survival is in our own hands. If we are lax and inattentive, we will continue to have serious challenges with the virus. If we are mindful and self-disciplined, we have it in us to defeat this pandemic and help return our lives to normalcy,” the president said.

“I appeal to each and every one of you for your help in this regard. That is the surest way to realising our collective vision of building a new Ghanaian civilization where the rule of law is not a slogan, but a directive principle of state development; where we deliver social and economic transformation that has a meaningful impact on the lives of all our people,” he added.

Ghana’s COVID-19 case count stood at 11,964 with 4,258 recoveries and 54 deaths as of Sunday night, June 14, 2020.