UK’s COVID-19 variants spreading faster in Ghana – GHS

• Posted on February 3, 2021February 3, 2021
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says the new Covid-19 variants from the United Kingdom (UK) are spreading faster and widely among the Ghanaian population, with higher disease burden.

The GHS says the trend of the spread of the UK variants could overtake the traditional one in existence in Ghanaian communities if people fail to strictly observe the preventive and safety protocols put in place by the government.

The Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, who announced this on Tuesday, entreated Ghanaians to step up with the wearing of facemasks and observe other safety protocols to avoid contracting the deadly virus.

In his address to the media, he indicated that there has been an increasing number of infections in workplaces, hence urged managers of both public and private organisations to adopt shift system and virtual platforms to curb the spread of the virus.

The GHS boss stated that it had intensified Contact Tracing in hotspot areas, with 3,500 tests conducted daily, adding that the Service had deployed Data Entry Clerks and Surveillance Officers to public health laboratories, therefore testing for Covid-19 in public health laboratories was free.

Meanwhile, Ghana has recorded 772 new cases of Covid-19, with eight more deaths, bringing the total fatalities to 424, as of January 30, 2021.

There were 294 persons on admissions in treatment centres out of which 34 are in critical condition, 122 cases are severe while 138 cases are considered mild and moderate.

The country’s daily average of new cases stands at 700.

Out of the 772 new cases, Greater Accra Region recorded 544 cases in 20 districts, representing 84.8 per cent.

The country’s COVID-19 cumulative cases stood at 67,782 after conducting 783,452 tests, with 61,843 people discharged/ discoveries (91.2 %) and 8.7 per cent positivity rate.

Information Minister-designate Kojo Oppong Nkrumah indicated that the government would this week step up messaging to educate and sensitise the public on the safety protocols and appealed to the media to collaborate in that regard.

He noted that given the severity of the new COVID-19 variants, it was imperative for everybody to be on guard to avoid contracting the infectious disease.

-GNA