The Director General of Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye has warned of the rapid upsurge in Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the Greater Accra region, with children and schools being those at risk.
According to him, 18.1% of the 400 new active cases recorded in the last few weeks are children between the ages of 0-15 years, with the youngest affected a six month old baby.
He continued that schools and work places are the two places where the new cases are prevalent.
He also noted that two other regions, Eastern and Western, have also recorded some new cases but the chunk of them are in Accra.
The GHS Director made this known to media men at a press conference organised by the Ministry of Information in Accra yesterday.
Giving some statistics on the rate of upsurge, Dr Kuma-Aboagye noted that in January, the country recorded 4,488 new confirmed cases, with an average of 149.6 a day, while 2,523 cases with an average of 84 cases a day was recorded in February.
In March and April, the number of new confirmed cases reduced to 152 and 39 with a daily average of 5 and 1.3.
Dr Aboagye noted that the decrease did not last as more cases were recorded in May and June. “In the last two months, the country recorded 399 and 267 new confirmed cases with a daily average of 13.3 and 44”, the GHS Director said.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye noted that one of the leading factors in these new confirmed cases is the increase in respiratory tract infections due to the rains. He again said that an increase in Influenza infections picked from existing influenza and other respiratory virus sentinel site is another factor that increased the rate of Covid-19 in the country.
On why schools and work places are at risk, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said, “there has been an increase in school and workplace related settings due to poor compliance to safety protocols, especially the wearing of masks”.
He continued that the poor observance of the protocols at large gatherings and events such as conferences, funerals and parties is also a contributory factor.
He also hinted that the low booster vaccination intake is also another thing that Ghanaians should note and act on it.
On measures to curtail the situation before it escalates to other regions, the Director General said his outfit has enhanced surveillance activities across all districts in the region, especially in schools and workplaces and has also reactivated the Covid-19 management teams and treatment facilities.
Again, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said rapid Covid -19 testing in public health facilities for early detection and case management as well as public education on adherence to covid-19 protocols would commence.
20 million vaccination target not achieved
Speaking specifically on vaccination, Dr Kuma-Aboagye stated that the country has not been able to achieve the 20 million targets it set as the number of people to be vaccinated by the end of June 2022. He noted that so far 15.8 million people have been vaccinated, leaving some 4.2 million people yet to be vaccinated.
According to him, one region with the lowest number of vaccinated people is the Volta region and called on Members of Parliament to advise their constituents to get themselves vaccinated.
Emergence of Monkeypox
The GHS Director also used yesterday’s briefing to announce the recording of Monkeypox disease in the country.
According to him, there are five confirmed cases out of the twelve suspected cases recorded in the country so far.
He noted that the Greater Accra, Western and Eastern regions are the places where these cases were confirmed and advised people to tread cautiously.
He intimated there is no treatment for the disease as of now so people should protect themselves from getting infected by avoiding skin to skin contact with infected person.
Influenza A (H3)
Dr Kuma-Aboagye also hinted on the outbreak of influenza A(H3) in the country. He said 3,460 samples have been tested and 773 positive cases were confirmed. He said cases have been confirmed in all regions except Upper East, Upper West and North East Regions.
