CODVID19: Residents demand closure of Elubo Border

Some residents of Elubo, the main border crossing between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to the west, in the Jomoro District of the Western region, are demanding for the immediate closure of the Elubo boarder. Their demand follows report of Ivory Coast confirming its first corona virus case.
The case, which according to report, was reported in the capital of Abidjan, involves a 45-year-old Ivorian man, making the country the sixth in the sub-region to record a case of the deadly coronavirus pandemic after Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Senegal and now Ghana.
A Skyy Power FM news reporter in Elubo says residents are living in fear, since hundreds of foreigners, especially from Ivory Coast, keep moving in and out of the community each day. Most of these residents also ply their businesses in Ivory coast town of Norwey. However, trading activities in the area by Ghanaians have since slowed due to fear of contracting the disease.
One resident who spoke to our Reporter said “We live in fear now; we have heard most West African countries close to us have all recorded their first cases. The latest was Ivory Coast, which is very close to us. We actually buy and sell there so we are all like brothers and sisters, but hearing a first coronavirus case there puts fear in us because we are told the disease is very deadly. We have even stopped going there for business.”
They are demanding a total closure of the border to avoid any unfortunate eventualities. They say countries which left their borders opened for every foreigner to enter are now battling with the disease, and as such must not happen to Ghana.
“A lot of countries are suffering from this deadly disease because they left their borders open, our authorities should not allow this to happen to us. We must put restrictions on travelling and close all our borders to desist others from entering; we are afraid of the disease and everything must be done by the authorities to save us, the citizens,” Abdul, a resident told our Reporter.
However, some of the residents told our Reporter, Rashid, that they are satisfied with precautionary measures currently put in place by the Port Health Service at the border. They claim medical doctors and experts are available to check all persons making entry into the country through that rout.
“Now if you go there, there are doctors who are with masks checking everybody who is coming from Ivory coast. There are gloves and mask they issue to all entrants and a machine which is placed on the forehead of people to check their temperatures, and movements have been restricted now,” a businessman and resident of Elubo indicated.

1. Story: Eric Nana Gyetuah/Skyy Power FM, Takoradi