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Ghana’s COVID-19 cases rise to 6,269 —GHS
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has confirmed 173 more cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) to put the total number of cases at 6,269.
The number of recoveries has also shot up by 144 from the last update of 1,754.
This means Ghana now has 1,898 recoveries but its death toll has remained at 31 over the last four days.
According to the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the new infections had come from five out of the 16 regions in the country with the Greater Accra Region still leading the chart with 46 more cases.
The Western Region has recorded 59 more cases putting its total case count at 170, Ashanti, 35 more cases, Central 27 and Eastern Region recording six new cases.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye disclosed that so far 31 patients have been managed under intensive care unit (ICU), with two, put on ventilators.
“Six mortalities have been recorded, 16 have been discharged home and currently we have eight in ICU; four at the University of Ghana Medical Centre, two at the Ga East Hospital, one at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and one at the Ho Government Hospital.”
The Director-General indicated that so far over 187,000 tests have been conducted, of which 1,920 tested positive during general surveillance and 4,349 from enhanced contact tracing.
The Greater Accra Region, he said, accounted for 20 out of the 31 deaths recorded in the country, of which 17 are males and three, females.
“Twenty-eight of the persons who died have co-morbidity issues and three have no underlying issue so we can confirm they died of COVID-19,” he said.
On decentralising treatment for the disease, Dr Kuma-Aboagye made it known that a total of 71 treatment and isolation centres have been identified across the country with nine testing sites on hand to ramp up testing of COVID-19.
“All 16 regions have so far been able to identify and set up at least one regional level and two other treatment centres and isolation facilities and with the number of cases reducing by the day, we do not expect to be overwhelmed with the cases,” he stated.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye who used the opportunity to clarify payment of contact tracers, noted that the GHS had strengthened its systems to respond and contain further spread of the virus as it targeted hotspots for better management of cases.
“All contact tracers have been paid and currently because the number of cases are reducing, we are relying more on our staff instead of the volunteers to do the contact tracing.
“With the 50 per cent allowance for frontline staff, the Ministry of Health is working on it and they will be paid.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
