Operations at the Dodowa market in the Shai-Osudoku District of Accra are expected to come to a halt for a period of one week due to overcrowding at the market in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

This will take effect from Monday, April 20 to Saturday, April 27, 2020.

Activities will, however, resume on Monday, April 28, 2020.

A statement from the Shai-Osudoku District Joint Committee noted that this decision was taken because “the measures instituted to maintain social distancing among other protocols to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in the Dodowa market are not yielding the intended results.”

Giving more clarification, the statement continued: “Even though the market women are adhering to the shift system announced in our previous measures issued to decongest the market, it has been observed that the closure of markets in the La Nkwantanang and other municipalities has led to heavy and uncontrollable patronage of the Dodowa market raising serious concerns and therefore defeating the intended purpose of the shift system.”

The closure of the market is to “allow time for the Joint Committee and the market stakeholders to rethink and implement alternative strategies to serve the best interest of the general public during this period of coronavirus.”