COVID-19 cases increased because of lockdown – Jacob Osei Yeboah
An aspiring presidential candidate Jacob Osei Yeboah (JOY) has attributed the increase in infections of the novel Coronavirus to the breach of social distancing during government’s three week lockdown.
According to the independent candidate who contested in the 2012 general elections, several videos surfaced of how people had queued without observing social distancing when food was being distributed.
President Akufo-Addo in March this year implemented a three week lockdown in Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi and parts of the the Central Region(Kasoa).
As a way to support citizens who could not fend for themselves throughout the lockdown, Government through the Gender Ministry and District assemblies distributed food to communities.
But this according to JOY is one of the reasons why the country has recorded more cases now.
He said the failure to observe social distancing in the distribution of food is one of the reasons why the cases have increased.
Speaking to Kwasi Osei Charles (Dr.K) on Salt 95.9 FM, JOY said he disagreed with President Akufo Addo when he implemented the lockdown because the figures we had recorded then were few and the lockdown was not necessary as at that time.
‘The rate of infections were low as at when the President implemented the lockdown and I strongly opposed the move’ – he said
He however commended the President for lifting the lockdown when he realised a lot of citizens had started to flout the laws because they were ‘hungry’.
According to JOY, he believes one of the reasons why government implemented the lockdown was to get financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who at that time, were providing financial support to countries that were complying with WHO directives that strongly recommended lockdowns in countries that had confirmed COVID-19 cases.
