Many countries around the world issued lockdown orders to contain the spread of the covid-19 pandemic. This has brought social, religious and most economic activities to a halt, around the world. However, several countries have begun to review these lockdown measures with the aim of re-opening their economies and begin a gradual return to normalcy.
On Sunday, April 19, Ghana partially lifted the lockdown imposed on two of its major cities, after 21 days. The Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo Addo explained that the step was taken because the country had improved its testing capacity and conducted over 68,000 tests. Ghana has so far recorded more than 1,000 cases of Coronavirus infections. In the United States of America, President Donald Trump’s administration has issued guidelines detailing three phases for a gradual ease of the lockdown orders across the country. Texas and Vermont, on Monday, April 20, became the first of its 50 states to begin to lift restrictions on certain businesses, although it left in place, social distancing precautions. Montana will commence lifting restrictions on Friday, April 24.
Other countries like, Germany, Norway, Czech Republic and Poland are some of the countries within the European Union that have also begun to lift the lockdown measures with the gradual re-opening of select commercial establishments, educational institutions and social spaces.
The coming weeks are likely to see activities and several lockdowns begin to gradually ease across countries of the world. However, it is clear that unfettered restoration of normal life would take a while to achieve. Countries are likely to work towards better management of the pandemic. The push to remove the lockdowns is driven by the pressure of economics, as more and more people are coming under pressure to return to work and recover from the debilitating economic consequences of the lockdown. How soon travel and tourism across the world will resume, is as yet unclear as restrictions in this regard may yet linger into several months.