Government officials and TUC executives at the meeting at the Jubilee
House with President Akufo-Addo
Fear and panic appears to be setting in as the coronavirus (COVID-19) grips 132 people.
The case count of confirmed COVID-19 infections hit three digits in Ghana yesterday, with the country recording a total of 132 cases alongside three confirmed deaths.
As of Wednesday, the case count stood at 68, but the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Thursday confirmed additional 64 cases, bringing the total number to 132.
Recovery Rate
The good news, however, is that health authorities say one patient, believed to be a Chinese being treated for COVID-19, has fully recovered.
Out of the 64 new confirmed cases, 40 were among those under mandatory quarantine for two weeks while the remaining 24 were confirmed through the regular surveillance of the GHS among the local population, especially through the contact tracing efforts.
“The number of confirmed cases among travellers under mandatory quarantine who have been tested is 78,” the GHS said in a statement released on its website that updates the public on the outbreak response management.
So far, the great majority of the confirmed cases are Ghanaians, who returned home from countries where the disease is prevalent.
It further stated that 14 of the new cases are being managed at homes in isolation while the rest are responding well to treatment on admission in isolation centres.
Unfortunately, one patient is said to be in critical condition.
Death Toll
Three lives have been lost to COVID-19 since Ghana recorded its first case on March 12.
The victims including a Labanese man and two Ghanaian women were undergoing treatment in isolation at various locations in the country.
“All the three cases that unfortunately succumbed to the disease were old and had underlying chronic medical conditions,” the GHS statement said.
Contacts Traced
The tracing of persons who may have come into contact with infected persons has also increased to a total of 970 contacts as of March 26.
The health authorities have said 204 of the contacts have completed the 14-day mandatory follow up, an increase from the previous day’s of 161.
Epicentres
It seems Accra and Tema in the Greater Accra Region and Kumasi in the Ashanti Region are becoming the epicentres for the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said, “What we have identified so far in Ghana now, we can describe two areas in Ghana as our own epicentres, Accra and Tema together and Kumasi.”
“We have adequate room in Accra … to actually take care of all those who have tested positive at the moment. But going forward, a team is going round identifying places that we can use for isolation for case management, not only in Accra,” he added.
Restrictions
The rising cases of coronavirus in the country have heightened calls for Ghana to declare a lockdown in order to stop the spread, with the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) urging the government to immediately lock down the country.
But the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in response to the calls for a lockdown, has given indications that the government may announce restrictions in some parts of Ghana as part of additional measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.
He said a restriction or any other new precautionary measure the government may adopt would be aimed at curbing a community spread of the disease.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri