The government has revealed that 14 people in the country have tested positive for COVID-19 after the release of test results of 7,461 people whose samples were taken as part of an enhanced contact tracing and testing regime.
This represents 0.18% of the people tested.
This was revealed by the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, today, Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
At a media briefing to provide updates on Ghana’s COVID-19 fight, the Minister said the 7,461 results are out of the over 15,000 samples that have been taken to be tested.
“As the President mentioned on Sunday night, as at that time, about 19,000 people had been traced and samples had been taken from about 15,000…So far, over 15,000 have had their samples taken. The brief I have this morning is that 7,461 have been tested and out of that, 14, that is 0.18% have tested positive,” he said.
Ghana’s case count increased by 73 new cases, putting the total at 287 as at 23:30GMT April 6, 2020.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the 73 new cases include some 26 persons who were held under mandatory quarantine who tested negative initially but tested positive after the second test.
He added that another factor responsible for the rise was the enhanced contract tracing and testing that is ongoing.
“When the second tests were done, 26 of them now turned positive, so a good chunk of our case count increase is coming from the second group of people who tested positive… The other part is the enhanced contact tracing which has started,” the Minister stated.
The Minister further urged the public to remain calm even when the total case count appeared to be increasing sharply.
He said that development can only be attributed to the aggressive work of contact tracing and testing which is rather positive and will ultimately help Ghana deal with the challenges of COVID-19.
