General News of Thursday, 21 January 2021

Source: GNA

Coronavirus: Greater Accra records highest infection cases

Ghana has recorded a total of 56,286 cases Ghana has recorded a total of 56,286 cases

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has confirmed 391 new infection cases of COVID-19 across the country, with the Greater Accra Region recording more than half of the cases.

The new infections were recorded in eight regions including Greater Accra - 224; Ashanti - 83; Western – 19; Volta – 18; Upper West Region - 10; Central and Western North regions – Six; and Eastern Region - Two. The new infections were from tests conducted as at January 17, 2021.

So far, a total of 56,286 patients have recovered or been discharged, leaving the country with 2,178 active cases to manage.

Out of this the active cases, 82 of them are in severe conditions with 29 considered critical who are being managed in treatment sites, isolation centres across the country, while some are under home management.

The death toll, however, remained at 358 since the last update on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Ghana has so far recorded 58,822 cases of the virus since it confirmed its first two cases in March, 2020.

Out of the total confirmed cases, 23,117 were from the General Surveillance; 34,690 cases from the Enhanced Contact Tracing, while 1,015 have been recorded from international travellers disembarking at the Kotoka International Airport since it was reopened on September 1, 2020, the update stated.

So far, a total of 721,263 tests have been conducted. Out of this, 226,450 are from routine surveillance, 357,143 from contact tracing, and 137,670 from international travellers arriving through the Kotoka International Airport. The positivity rate is 8.2 per cent.

The Greater Accra and the Ashanti Regions continue to be the epicentre of the virus in the country with cumulative cases of 33,241 and 11,448 respectively.

The rest are:

Western Region- 3,256

Eastern Region – 2,683

Central Region- 2,200

Volta Region – 808

Bono East Region – 795

Western North Region – 689

Bono Region- 644

Northern Region – 607

Ahafo Region- 537

Upper East Region – 399

Oti Region- 244

Upper West Region – 136

Savannah Region – 62

North East Region -22