Accra, May 7, GNA – Ghana has confirmed 372 new cases of COVID-19, bringing its total number to 3,091, after test results from 137,924 samples, the Ghana Health Service, has said.
There are also 303 recoveries with the number of deaths remaining 18, since the previous update, given on Monday, May 4.
The active cases are now 2,770, with five persons being moderately ill.
Giving an update of the case management of the disease, at a media briefing on Thursday, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of GHS, said 944 of the cases were recorded from the Routine Surveillance system, while 2,032 were from the Enhanced Contact Tracing system.
Also, 115 cases were from the Mandatory Quarantine regime.
He said the country’s positivity rate stood at 2.85 per cent after the receipts of the sample test results (137,924).
Out of the total case count, the Greater Accra Region, the epicenter of the virus in the country, has so far recorded 2,579 with the Ashanti Region following with 165 cases.
Eastern Region has also recorded 95 cases, followed by the Western North with 56 cases, and the Central Region with 50 cases.
The others are: Western – 32, Volta – 30, Upper East – 26, Oti – 23, Upper West – 19, Northern – 13 and North East two and Bono – one.
The Savannah, Ahafo, and Bono East regions have no confirmed cases.
In terms of infections by gender, 76 per cent are males; while and 23 per cent are females.
With the ages of the dead, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said 11 of them were above 60 years; four between 40 and 59 years; two of them between 25 and 39 years; while one person was below 15 years.
He noted that 84 per cent of them had underlying health conditions, with the majority being hypertensive. The rest had diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, stroke, and liver problems.
Dr Aboagye said contracting the Coronavirus disease was not tantamount to a death sentence, and encouraged Ghanaians to continue observing the safety and hygiene protocols.
They include covering one’s mouth when coughing and sneezing, wearing a face mask when going out, washing hands with soap under running water, frequently using alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and observing physical/social distancing in public places.
He said the health authorities had engaged artisans, including hairdressers and barbers, and the Service would soon come out with guidelines on the safety protocols for their work.
GNA