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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
President Nana Ado Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged employers and business owners to make changes as part of measures to stem the tide of the COVID-19 surge.
In his 26th Address to the Nation on Sunday July 25, 2021, Akufo-Addo said, “With workplaces currently experiencing a resurgence in COVID-19 infections, I want to urge businesses, workplaces and their owners and leaders to observe personnel management and the workplace. protocols, such as using a shift system and technology, to achieve social distancing and hygiene protocols. “
The Ghana Health Service, he noted, “has decided to step up its contact tracing, testing and treatment campaigns, especially in hot spots in the metropolitan areas of Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi. COVID-19 treatment centers continue to have medical supplies, personal protective equipment and health workers. “
The President also said: “We will continue to ensure that all passengers arriving at Kotoka International Airport are in possession of a negative PCR test result upon arrival in Ghana, a test that should not have been be completed more than seventy-two (72) hours before the scheduled departure from the country of origin. In addition, all passengers will continue to be subject to a mandatory COVID test on arrival ”.
The president said the upsurge in cases makes it clear that Ghana is experiencing a third wave, which he attributes to loosening compliance with security protocols.
“Based on available data from the Ghana Health Service, it appears that, unfortunately, our country is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections,” the president noted.
“These increased infections have been largely due to the Delta variant of the virus, which the World Health Organization says has increased rates of transmissibility and, in our case in Ghana, has led, in recent weeks, to an increase in hospitalizations. and intensive care beds and, tragically, deaths, ”he noted.
The president also announced a ban on all after-funeral receptions and said week-long funeral anniversaries should be “limited to family members only and should not exceed two hours in length.”
He also ordered that all funerals not exceed two hours.
The 26th COVID-19 address was delivered 24 hours after the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) warned that fully vaccinated people test positive for the fast-spreading Delta variant with very high viral loads.
The NMIMR observed, “with concern”, certain characteristics of the new Delta variant of SARS-Cov-2 detected at the institute’s test center since April 2021.
In a statement released on Saturday, July 24, 2021, the Institute said “positive cases have very high viral loads indicated by low cut-offs (CT values) obtained in the real-time RT-PCR test.”
The CT values for the majority are between 15 and 20 compared to values above 30 seen previously, noted the NMIMR.
The Institute also said it had observed that “positive individuals take longer to clear the virus”, explaining: “This is evident in the number of retests which are still positive”.
The NMIMR also revealed that its recent sequencing of SARS-Cov-2 revealed “increased circulation of the Delta variant in Ghanaian communities compared to earlier Alpha variants”.
“The higher viral loads seen in recent cases are attributable to the Delta variant,” the statement said.
The transmission of SARS-Cov-2 is directly related to the amount of virus excreted in the droplets during sneezing and coughing, which also determines the spread through speaking, singing and other related activities.
The Delta variant has been reported to spread faster than the other variants and our test observations confirm this.
The statement said that some clinical samples submitted to the institute tested positive with high viral loads.
“In addition, 7.34% (840/6 538) of the positive cases recorded in asymptomatic people who visit the center without an appointment for testing for travel, work or school purposes from June 1 to July 22, 2021, have an equally high viral rate. charge, ”noted the NMIMR.
Noguchi warned, “With a population of over 80% unvaccinated, the country must fear that if these seemingly healthy carriers transmit the virus to the unvaccinated, we may have a more serious epidemic to deal with as a nation.”
Some of those positive cases, he noted, “took the full dose of COVID-19 vaccines.”
“It is therefore recommended that the government review the status of compliance with COVID-19 prevention protocols and appropriate restrictions.”
Currently, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Ghana has risen to 4,094, according to the latest figures from the Ghana Health Service.
Some 423 new cases have been confirmed.
The death toll also rose to 821.
As of March 12, 2020, the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded in Ghana to date is 101,170.
Of that number, 96,255 have recovered.
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