Facts About Covid-19 Cases in Ghana

Ghana recorded its first case of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) on Thursday, March 12, 2020. Since then, there have been a number of developments in the country on the pandemic. Below are some key facts about the Covid-19 cases in Ghana.

Recorded Cases—As at Wednesday, April 1, Ghana had recorded 195 Covid-19 cases with 2 recoveries and 5 deaths. According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the 5 deceased already had underlying chronic medical conditions.

Breakdown of Cases—Out of the 195 cases recorded, 106 (54%) of them were identified through regular surveillance—thus through the routine testing of suspected cases in the country. The remaining 89 (46%) cases were identified from travellers who are under mandatory quarantine.

Regular Surveillance—Through its regular surveillance, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has tested 1,243 persons. Out of the 1,243, 106 cases (8.5%) have emerged positive. Out of the 106 cases, 80 of them are on admission in isolation centres, 18 have been discharged and are being managed from home, while 3 have recovered. The remaining 5 are deceased.

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Mandatory Quarantine—The Ghana Health Service reports that as at April 1, Ghana had put 1,276 travellers who were entering the country through its various borders under mandatory quarantine. This follows a directive from the President Nana Akufo-Addo on March 21, 2020 that all travellers entering the country between March 21 and March 22 be put under a 14-day mandatory quarantine. All the 1,276 travellers have being tested. So far, samples of 89 (7%) have emerged positive.

Regional Breakdown of Cases—The cases that have been recorded so far have been reported from 4 regions – the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Upper West and Northern Regions.  The cases from Ashanti Region (8 cases) and the Upper West Region (1 case) were recorded through the regular surveillance. The Northern Region has recorded 10 cases, all through mandatory quarantine. The remaining 176 cases were recorded in the Greater Accra Region—79 through mandatory quarantine, 97 from routine surveillance.

Spread of Covid-19—According to the Ghana Health Service, 97% of the Covid-19 cases are imported (vertical spread). Thus, most of the cases were travellers returning to Ghana from affected countries. Nonetheless, there have been a few recorded cases of where the individuals had no travel history (horizontal cases).

Countries of Origin of the Confirmed Cases—Twenty (20) of the cases are nationals from Norway, Lebanon, China, Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK) , Guinea, Germany, Hungary and France. The remaining are Ghanaians, and most of them were travellers coming from affected countries.

Contact Tracing—So far, 1,185 persons identified to have come into contact with persons who have tested positive to the Covid-19 are being followed. The GHS indicate that 231 of the 1,185 have concluded their 14 days mandatory follow up.

Sources:

https://ghanahealthservice.org/covid19/

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NOTE: Since the publication of this report on March 27, the fact-checking team has been updating it to reflect the current data on the recorded cases of Covid-19 in Ghana.