Government has defended its decision to halt targeted mass testing for Covid-19.

Regional health directors have been ordered to stop institutional mass testing and limit contact tracing to only symptomatic and dead patients.

Addressing parliament on Thursday, the Presidential advisor on health Dr Nsia Asare explained the move is as a result of scarce resources and WHO new categorization of asymptomatic patients as posing no threat of infection.

“It is better that if we want to do a test, we do very targeted testing, it means if you have come into contact with somebody, the person will, by all means, mention your name, we will come to you and then take your samples…that is the most cost-beneficial way we can make use of the tests that we have in this country.

“If we continue with the corporate testing, it means those who are sick and who need to be tested have to wait and it floods the hospitals and that is where people say that the hospitals are overwhelmed,” he explained.

Coordinator for Ghana’s Coronavirus Response Programme, Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah told parliament he has no idea when the country’s cases will peak since the cases keep surging.

Meanwhile, Ghana has recorded 459 new cases of COVID-19 cases taking the country’s total to 15,472, according to the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye.

The country has also recorded 11,430 recoveries as the death toll remains at 95.

The current active cases are 3,840.

Count of Cases per Region

(Case Count from Highest to Lowest)

Greater Accra Region – 8,691

Ashanti Region – 2,915

Western Region – 1,213

Central Region – 798

Eastern Region – 407

Volta Region – 321

Upper East Region – 271

Oti Region – 105

Western North Region – 92

Northern Region – 77

Savannah Region – 38

Bono East Region – 35

Upper West Region – 35

Ahafo Region – 8

North East Region – 4

Bono Region – 3