Coronavirus: Daily infections increase in the last three weeks

COVID-19 infections in the country are on the rise with the number of new cases increasing from 24 a day to 509 in the last three weeks.

Data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) COVID-19 update page has indicated that 37 deaths have been recorded within the period with the death toll increasing from 1,228 on December 1 to 1,265 on December 17.

As of December 17, the Greater Accra region has recorded the highest of 72,364 infections, Ashanti region has recorded 20,815, while the Western region recorded 7,551 cases.

Statistics on the page has also shown that the number of active cases increased from 692 to 2,428 in the last three weeks.

Severe cases on admission at the Intensive Care Units (ICU) as of December 17 stood at 24 with none in critical condition.

Dr Frankline Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health at the GHS told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that more cases are being recorded in the country due to the presence of the Omicron variant.

Ghana, on December 1, recorded its first case of the Omiricon Variant, since then, 34 cases of the variant have been recorded at the Kotoka International Airport with seven cases detected in the community.

“Two weeks ago, we were recording 40 cases a day but now we are recording more than 200 news cases in a day,” he said.

He said presently there were not many cases on admission at the ICUs because most on the cases being recorded were mild.

He called on the unvaccinated to visit the vaccination centres to receive their jabs, adhere to the protocols and protect themselves during the festive season saying, “You need to carefully choose where you go to as you celebrate the Christmas, because the more you aggregate the higher your risk of contracting the virus.

He advised the public to attend outdoor events only.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.

However, some will become seriously ill and require medical attention, anyone can get sick with COVID-19 and become seriously ill or die at any age.

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 include Fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell and sore throat.

The Ghana Health Service had advised that the people protected themselves from the virus by observing the safety protocols, such as the wearing a nose mask, observing social distancing, washing hands with soap under running water, observing social distancing and avoiding handshakes.