Ghana’s Coronavirus death toll has increased from 58 to 66 following the demise of 8 patients.

This was contained in an update by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Wednesday, June 17, 2020. According to the GHS, the update is as of June 15.

Out of the 8 deaths, 6 came from the Ashanti region while 2 were recorded in the Greater Accra region. 3 were females, with the remaining 5 being males.

Whereas 5 had underlining health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and sickle cell, 3 persons, below the ages of 40 had no co-morbidities.

Meanwhile, the country has recorded 397 new infections. The case count now stands at 12,590. The number of recoveries is 4,410, leaving the country with 8,114 active cases.

According to the GHS data, 13 patients are in severe conditions while 4 are critically ill.

The latest update comes barely a day after GHS announced the confirmation of 229 new cases.

 

Death figures being massaged – OccupyGhana

Pressure group, OccupyGhana, a few days ago raised concern about the number of deaths as it argued that the figures could have been massaged.

The group noted in a statement issued that "There is cause to suspect that the death numbers are being massaged" while stressing that some persons who were discharged have tested positive again.

It also argued that Ghana is likely to lose the ‘strength in racing with the COVID-19 virus’ following the reopening of schools.

“If we are not careful, these schools could turn into hotspots for disease transmission and the students could become super-spreaders.”

“Hospitals are getting overwhelmed with spillovers of designated areas for suspected and confirmed cases into emergency rooms and wards otherwise not assigned.

“[There] is a desperate attempt to shorten hospital stay and increase the availability of bed space by discharging patients before the post-treatment test results.

“The unfortunate occurrence, which has led to some being discharged with their repeat tests coming back positive after their discharge. This is disheartening and should not be allowed as we seek to fight this pandemic with professionalism and integrity” the pressure group stated.

Regional breakdown of 12,590 cases

Greater Accra Region - 7,419

Ashanti Region - 2,362

Western Region - 993

Central Region - 694

Eastern Region - 284

Volta Region - 278

Upper East Region - 241

Oti Region - 101

Western North Region - 81

Northern Region - 52

Savannah Region - 35

Upper West Region - 32

Bono East Region - 14

North East Region - 2

Bono Region - 1

Ahafo Region - 1