3 New cases take Northern COVID-19 total to 16

The Northern Region has recorded three new positive cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) bringing the total number of cases to 16.

One of the three cases is from the Tolon District while the other two are from Wulensi in the Nanumba South District.

The Tolon case is a head potter, popularly known as Kayaye, who returned from Accra recently while the two from Wulensi were seen through contact tracing from cases reported in the Oti Region but who travelled to the Northern Region.

300 samples

The Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr John B. Eleeza, who disclosed this to the media in Tamale, yesterday, May 4, said the results were from the 300 samples that were collected and tested at the Tamale COVID-19 testing centre at the Public Health Reference Laboratory (PHRL) at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH).

"This happened within 24 hours; hitherto, we would have waited for some days before getting the results," he stated.

He, therefore, used the opportunity to thank the government and its donor partners who gave the region and for that matter the entire Northern Ghana a testing centre for COVID-19 in Tamale.

He also commended the team working at the testing centre.

Stigmatisation

Dr Eleeza stated that one of the biggest challenges hampering the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was stigmatisation and appealed to the media to lead the crusade against the phenomenon.

He explained that because people infected were being stigmatised it was preventing them from coming out to report and they were instead going into hiding.