Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Test samples from 7,461 persons have revealed that 14 of the number have tested positive for COVID-19.
The process of getting the 7,461 people, whose samples were taken, was part of the enhanced contact tracing and testing regime from the 15,000 samples collected.
The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, revealed this at a press briefing today to provide updates on Ghana’s COVID-19 fight.
“As the President mentioned on Sunday night, as at that time, about 19,000 people had been traced and samples had been taken from about 15,000…So far, over 15,000 have had their samples taken. The brief I have this morning is that 7,461 had been tested and out of that, 14, that is 0.18 per cent, have tested positive,” he said.
Ghana’s current case
As at April 6, 2020, Ghana’s case count had increased by 73 new cases, putting the total at 287.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the 73 new cases include some 26 persons who were held under mandatory quarantine. They tested negative initially, but tested positive after the second test.
He added that another factor responsible for the rise is the enhanced contact tracing and testing that is ongoing.
“When the second tests were done, 26 of them now turned positive, so a good chunk of our case count increase is coming from the second group of people who tested positive… The other part is the enhanced contact tracing which has started,” the Minister indicated.
To this end, he urged the public to remain calm even when the total case count appears to be increasing sharply.
He said the development can only be attributed to the aggressive work of contact tracing and testing, saying this is rather positive and will ultimately help Ghana deal with the challenges of COVID-19.
The regional distribution of the cases are as follows: Greater Accra Region has 258 cases; Ashanti Region, 18; Northern Region, 10; Upper West Region, one; Eastern Region, one; while Upper East Region has one.
The number of deaths remain five.
