The director general of the Ghana Health Service, Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, says the sharp increase in the number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Ghana is supported by science and that the Health Service’s reporting is in strict compliance with standards set by the World Health Organization.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Asaase Radio on Sunday 21 June, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said there has been a review of the global policy on COVID-19 recoveries.
The implementation of the reviewed policy is responsible for the sudden rise in recovery figures for the novel coronavirus disease in Ghana, he explained.
Ten-day window
“Global studies have shown that after ten days, you are not able to share the virus,” said Dr Kuma-Aboagye. “That is, even if you are positive, you are not able to infect anyone else, whether you are sick or not.
“We have also noticed that if you are positive and you do not fall sick within the incubation period of 14 days, you are not likely to get sick again. So you actually clear the virus from your system.
“It is upon this that we looked at the policy globally. And on 27 May, WHO came out with the guideline that anybody who after the tenth day is asymptomatic can be discharged, because you cannot spread the virus,” Dr Kuma-Aboagye said.
“For those who are sick, ten days after being positive, if you can have three consecutive days of being asymptomatic, they can also be discharged,” the GHS director said.
Active cases fewer than 4,000
Over the past ten days Ghana has recorded consistent increases in its coronavirus recovery figures. The first two cases of infection were detected in early March and the initial recovery rates were noticeably slow.
As of 17 June 2020, Ghana’s recoveries stood at 4,410. On 18 June, the figure rose by 138 to 4,548. As of today, 21 June 2020, the official COVID-19 website of the Ghana Health Service puts the recovery figure at 10,074.
The total number of confirmed cases in the country stands at 13,717. By extension, the number of active cases in Ghana is 3,558.
So far, 85 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 or through complications arising from it.
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