Suspected COVID-19 patients awaiting their test results have been urged to stay home to avoid infecting a larger number of people and even without a trace.

Dr Ernest Kenu, Director, Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, University of Ghana (UG) gave the advice when he spoke with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate’s annual performance review.

Dr Kenu noted that it was worrying that persons who had taken the COVID-19 test and awaiting results were rather out and about instead of staying at home.

He explained that staying at home while awaiting the result helped in reducing the number of people who might get exposed to the virus by the suspected patient.

He cautioned employers and work superiors against asking such persons to report to work as that act put everyone at risk.

“The reason why when a sample is taken we ask that the person must stay at home is that you don’t want to pass on the virus. It is the very reason why the first day that your sample is taken, you don’t have to go anywhere till you get your results, in so doing, you limit the number of persons you could have infected, it makes contact tracing easier while at the same time we are able to contain the virus within the shortest possible time”, he stressed.

He added that “can you imagine 10 people getting their samples taken, and all these 10 people are walking around, and then when they are told that they are all positive. How many contacts would they have interacted with? You have to list all of them and follow up with all of them and that will be a daunting task if not impossible."

He urged laboratory technicians in charge of taking the swap samples for the COVID test to always remind their clients to stay home while awaiting their results to curb the spread.

On contact tracing and following up on positive cases, he disclosed that it was sometimes difficult to do follow-ups, attributing it to the failure of patients to provide correct information on their forms.

Dr Kenu said, “Sometimes, you don’t have the correct phone numbers of the contacts that is why we are pleading with the general public that as much as possible please provide your detailed information including your place of work and residence and all the needed information”.