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The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has revealed that a record 34 active cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in some communities in Ghana, including some students at Achimota School, who have tested positive.
Health experts claim that the Delta variant, which originated in India, has a higher rate of transmission and spreads faster than other strains of Covid-19.
It has been found in communities in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions.
It is currently found in 98 countries around the world.
GHS chief executive Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, speaking to the media on Sunday, said the University of Health and Allied Sciences in July this year carried out genome sequencing of samples of Covid-19 and detected that Ghana had different variants of the disease. .
There are 576 cases of Covid-19 of different variants in the country, including Alpha (UK) – 429, Beta (South Africa) – 13, Gamma from Brazil – 1 and Delta Variant from India – 34.
Touching on the spread of Covid-19 at Achimota School, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said 843 students and staff have been tested with 135 positive tests.
He said the infected students had been quarantined and more tests were underway, including some day students.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the GHS has been able to contain the spread of the infectious virus on the Achimota campus, so far, adding that adherence to Covid-19 safety protocols on campus is very low .
He explained that the Delta variant was detected in the Ghanaian community on July 1, 2021, but was first registered in Ghana in April 2021 at Kotoka International Airport.
As of June 22, 2021, six cases had been recorded and all of them were detected at the port of entry when the GHS officially announced the presence of the variant in Ghana.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye indicated that he thus activated the rapid emergency response teams of public health in the region of Greater Accra and the municipality of Okaikoi North of the GHS.
He said that as of July 3, 2021, a total of 843 students and staff had been sampled; 348 of them were interns and 459 externs, with 36 teachers.
The results of 550 samples are ready and 135 have tested positive with 293 results pending. The 293 samples were taken on July 3, 2021.
The 135 cases at diagnosis were either asymptomatic or had mild to moderate disease.
GHS said a staff member was among those affected and about two-thirds of the cases – 89 – had recovered with 46 active cases.
Health experts claim that the Delta variant is more transmissible than the original variant and that the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines could not influence the Delta variant.
However, the Pfizer vaccine has a more reliable effect on the variant in terms of levels of protection against hospitalization, infection, and death.
According to the World Health Organization, all viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, evolve over time.
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