Eight more die from COVID-19 in Ghana, active cases rise to 5,515

Ghana has recorded 772 new cases of the COVID-19 disease, bringing the total number of active cases to 5,515.

The country has also recorded eight more deaths, raising the death toll to 424, while 61,843 persons who tested positive for the Coronavirus disease have been discharged or clinically recovered.

This was made known by the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday.

According to him, the country is now recording an average of 700 COVID-19 cases daily.

He also noted that the Greater Accra Region as at January 30, accounted for 56.7 per cent of total cases, while the Ashanti and Western Regions accounted for 16.0 and 6.1 per cent of cases respectively.

He added that 294 persons who had tested positive for COVID-19 were on admission, with 34 being critical, 122 being severe and 138 being mild to moderate cases.

Wearing of facemasks

Dr Kuma-Aboagye noted that a facemasks survey conducted in the Greater Accra Region revealed that 42 per cent of the sampled population were wearing the facemasks correctly, while 22 per cent were not wearing the mask at all.

"Compared to the previous survey in October 2020, the number of people wearing the facemask correctly have increased from 10% to 42% and those not wearing the facemask correctly have decreased from 72% to 36%. 78% of the people observed had an intension to use the facemask, out of which 42% wore the facemask correctly. 22% of the people observed were not wearing the facemask at all," he said.

KIA

According to Dr Kuma-Aboagye, the country has recorded a decline in the number of positive cases among international travellers who arrive in the country through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).