Ghana’s COVID-19 response: the Black Star can do even better

Abstract

### Summary box In the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana’s response was hailed as one of the best in Africa. The country’s ‘whole-of-government’ approach was structured around five objectives: to curtail the importation of cases; identify and contain them; care for the sick; cushion the impact of COVID-19 on Ghana’s economic and social life; and boost domestic production as a means of deepening self-reliance.1 The government’s perspective on the COVID-19 response was captured by the president in March 2020: ‘We know how to bring the economy back to life. What we do not know is how to bring people back to life.’2 However, nearly a year on, Ghana is contending with gaps between rhetoric and reality. In Accra, the capital city, the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the UK now constitutes up to 88% of all infections,3 and it is driving an ongoing surge in hospitalisations and deaths. These realities merit a review of Ghana’s COVID-19 response so far, and a broader thinking about practical measures to contain …