Ever since the first 2 recorded cases of Covid-19 in Ghana, the country has seen number of cases surge from tens and now in the hundreds.
These have subsequently led to the institution of restrictions that have changed the normal order of living many have come to be accustomed to in the form of direct gatherings and contacts. Currently, there are impositions that have been put in place to restrict the movement of people to and from parts of the country; particularly Greater Accra, Kumasi and other districts in the Ashanti Region; Tema and Kasoa.
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These areas have been affected primarily because of the recorded cases of Covid-19 there. A close look at the numbers will show that Accra has the highest numbers of cases recorded. This could be explained with the fact that the city stands as the main point of arrival and departure for travelers, having the only international airport in Ghana, Kotoka International Airport.
The first two cases were recorded at this point of entry and as stated the numbers have soared since then. This highly contagious disease as the president has said most of the time have been imported in Ghana’s case. With “imported” meaning they come from outside i.e people with travel history (returned from a trip abroad).
The country in its plans to prevent “community spread” thus put in place measures that will see first of all contact between people reduced whiles stringent measures are maintained at the various points of entry in the country (airports, sea ports and border entries). As it stands now, Ghana’s borders are closed till further notice.
The second plan as stated by the president and the frontliners was to prevent community spread through “contact tracing and testing” followed by treatment and monitoring as the cases present themselves. The contact tracing was put in place to be able to track down all persons who have come into contact with the over 250 persons reported to have contracted the disease and moved into their communities.
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In the President’s 6th update to the country, Thursday, numbers of both the imported cases and contact tracing proved to be huge and Accra stood at the region with the highest numbers recorded. Below are the numbers.
So far, 378 cases have been recorded in Ghana and 79% of the total number fall in the bracket of “imported cases” with a majority of this number reported at the Kotoka International Airport.
105 the total recorded cases came from people who were under mandatory quarantine after their arrival in the country on the 21st and 22nd March this year. Another 192 cases came from travelers who came into the country before closure of borders and their contacts. All these fall on the backdrop of the Kotoka International Airport standing as the point of entry for most travelers coming into the country.
The Numbers From Contact Tracing
37,405 samples have been taken so far through the contact tracing process. Out of these, a total of 31,933 are from Accra with the remaining 5,472 in Kumasi.
Of this number,14,611 samples have been tested for the virus (as at Wednesday). 11,308 of these samples from the number in Accra have been tested so far and thankfully, only 52 out of the number have tested positive so far with Kumasi’s number standing at 25 out of 3,303 samples tested so far.
In all, Accra’s numbers out of the total 378 cases recorded in Ghana stands at 329. The second area with the most recorded cases is Kumasi with 40.
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Imported Cases Against Cases of Community Spread
Whiles Ghana’s first cases recorded were imported, the numbers from community spread as at today, Saturday has now gone above those imported. This tells of the contagious nature of the disease and how we need to take precautions very serious.
Source; ghanahealthservice/covid19
All of these calls for residents in Accra to be very vigilant and take all precautionary measures very serious.
