President Nana Akufo-Addo has said since he reopened schools two weeks ago, “we have witnessed only a few reports of [COVID-19] cases among students”.

In his 23rd national address on the pandemic on Sunday, 31 January 2021, the President appealed to “school authorities and teachers to enforce the guidelines provided by the Ghana Education Service, and I urge the Ghana Health Service to continue their surveillance at the schools, so we can contain any reported cases”.

Concerning the general situation, however, the President reported that in just two weeks, the active COVID-19 case count in Ghana has almost tripled, jumping from 1,900 to 5,358.

Within the same period, the second wave of the virus has killed 64 people in Ghana, the President noted in his address.

He said: “As of Friday, 29th January, sixty-four (64) more people have, sadly, died, over the last two weeks, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to four hundred and sixteen (416)”.

“Our hospitalisation rates are increasing, with the number of critically and severely ill persons now at one hundred and seventy-two (172)”, he noted, lamenting: “Our hospitals have become full, and we have had to reactivate our isolation centres”.

Mr Akufo-Addo added: “Our average daily rates of infection now stand at seven hundred (700), compared to two hundred (200) two weeks ago”.

Giving further details, the President noted: “The total number of active cases has more than doubled, from a little over one thousand, nine hundred (1,900), two weeks ago, to five thousand, three hundred and fifty-eight (5,358) currently”.

“When I delivered Update No. 22, thirteen (13) out of the sixteen (16) regions had recorded active cases; today, all sixteen (16) regions have active cases. Indeed, Greater Accra, Central, Western, Ashanti, Eastern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, and Northern Regions are the hardest hit, accounting for ninety-four per cent (94%) of the total number of active cases”.