COVID-19: Second wave looms as Ghana’s active cases hit 620

COVID-19 active cases in Ghana have shot up to 620 from 589, raising fears of a second wave in the West African country.

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has warned that the country risks a second wave of COVID-19 if the public throw caution to the wind, adding that phase can be more terrible than the first if people do not keep to the safety protocols.

So far, Ghana has recorded 48,200 since the virus was first imported into the country in mid-March. The GHS reports that 47,260 have recovered while 320 persons have succumbed to the virus.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Health Promotion Division of the GHS and Leader of  the Risk Communication for COVID-19 National Task Force, Dr Dacosta Aboagye, said the posture of the public was causing a gradual rise in active cases, and that if care was not taken, the nation would see a major rise soon.

“This recent increase is attributed to non-compliance with the safety protocols by Ghanaians and the low perception that the infection is gone,” Dr. Aboagye told the Daily Graphic.

Dr Aboagye asked the political parties to  organise their activities in a way that will not draw back the progress made in the fight against the disease.

He said mass gatherings at political events, without recourse to the safety protocols, especially the wearing of face masks by attendees, were a recipe for new infections.

 “People have thrown caution to the wind and are no longer wearing face masks; people are not washing their hands or sanitising as they should and this is dangerous for us as a country,” he said.

He cautioned that although Ghana was doing well in the fight against the COVID-19, it was not out of the woods yet.

That, he said, required that efforts be sustained on the safety protocols, such as hand-washing, hand sanitising and wearing of face masks.

Cumulative regional cases:

Greater Accra Region – 25,203

Ashanti Region – 11,008

Western Region – 2,980

Eastern Region – 2,429

Central Region – 1,931

Bono East Region – 785

Volta Region – 682

Western North Region – 651

Bono Region – 550

Northern Region – 547

Ahafo Region – 528

Upper East Region – 358

Oti Region – 242

Upper West Region – 90

Savannah Region – 62

North East Region – 19

Source: Daily Mail GH