Accra, July 02, GNA – The Delta Variant of COVID-19 has been recorded in a Ghanaian community, the Ministry of Information has confirmed.
The Ministry, however, did not indicate which community recorded it, but said the infected persons had been isolated and were in good health.
“At 1000 hours on Friday, July 2, 2021, the Covid-19 Task force informed the Ghana Health Service that the Delta Variant of the SARS-Cov-2 virus has been recorded within a community in the latest round of genomic sequencing,” it announced in a tweet.
It said the relevant agencies were taking the necessary steps to ensure that the spread was contained.
Details on the variant in the country would, however, be provided at 1300 hours on Sunday July 4, 2021.
It advised the public to continue to adhere strictly to the COVID-19 protocols, while going about their permitted duties.
On June 22, the Ghana Health Service announced that the Delta Coronavirus strain, detected first in India, had been identified in Ghana through testing at the port health centre.
Six Delta variants of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 virus) had been recorded from all samples
taken between April and June, 2021 at the ports of entry.
Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health, GHS, also told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra, on Tuesday, June 22, that the Delta variant was highly contagious.
He advised that observing the COVID-19 safety protocol was, therefore, the surest way to get protected against the variant stressing, “Whether it is the Delta, Alpha or Liter coronavirus strain, the safety protocols apply to all.
“We all need to mask up, observe social distancing and wash our hands regularly with soap under running water”.
The AstraZeneca and Sputnik v vaccines are reportedly effective against it.
However, the Pfizer vaccine, has been found to have a higher effectiveness rate – 88 per cent effect against the delta strain.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also warned that the Delta was the fastest coronavirus strain, and it would “pick off” the most vulnerable people in places with low vaccination rates.
Persons who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 could contract the virus but their level of risk and severity of infection would be less severe than that of those who had not been vaccinated at all.
The earliest documented COVID-19 case, caused by the delta variant (B.1.617.2), was first found in the Indian State of Maharashtra in October 2020. It has since spread widely throughout India and across the world.
The WHO labelled it a “variant of concern” (VOC) on May 11.
Symptoms of the Delta Strain identified so far include headache, sore throat, runny nose, fever and others.
However, the “traditional” Covid symptoms, such as a cough and loss of smell is said to be much rarer now, with younger people experiencing much more of a bad cold.
GNA