The leaders of the #FixTheCountry movement have said they will still proceed with their planned demonstration against the government despite the surge in COVID-19 cases.

The group, which had intended to pour out on the street last month over the failure of successive governments to fix the prevailing challenges of Ghana, was restrained by the Ghana police service on grounds that the march could be a super spreader of COVID-19.

Given the fact that Ghana’s cases are much higher than before, there are worries that the planned protest slated for August could worsen the COVID-19 situation in Ghana.

However, the group’s spokesperson, Mr Anthony Morkeh, in an interview with Class News, said the group is resolved to go ahead with the demonstration while strictly complying with COVID-19 protocols.

Mr Morkeh said the group ought to be allowed to exercise its rights just as the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did a few weeks ago.

He said: “…As of now, we haven’t been given any red light to stop our demonstration. The COVID is our concern but still the demonstration should come on”.

“It is the president or the police that can tell us not to demonstrate but we have had several demonstrations and funerals in this country and, so, will a #fixthecountry demonstration for just one or two hours burn down the country? I think things must be put in place to make sure we observe COVID-19 protocols”.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stressed that the wearing of masks in public places is mandatory and anyone who flouts this law will have him/herself to blame.

He bemoaned and described as ‘troubling’, the drastic decline in the hitherto high compliance rate of mask-wearing.

Failure to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols, according to the president, had led to the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Addressing the country on the pandemic for the 26th time on Sunday, 25 July 2021, Nana Akufo-Addo said: “It is extremely troubling to note that the high compliance rate with mask-wearing has fallen alarmingly. The wearing of masks in public places, fellow Ghanaians, continues to be mandatory. There are no exceptions to this rule, and strict conformity with this protocol will be enforced. Anyone found to be flouting this directive will have him or herself to blame. We cannot afford anyone’s recklessness to endanger the lives of the majority of persons in the country.”

As part of measures to stop the spread of the virus, the president announced a ban on all post-funeral receptions and said one-week funeral anniversaries should be “restricted solely to family members, and should not exceed a duration of two hours”.

He also directed that all funerals should not go beyond two hours.

He urged workplaces and their owners to run shifts as part of measures to stem the tide of the COVID-19 upsurge