Omicron variant spreading across communities in Ghana – GHS

Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service

Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, has revealed that new cases of omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected within communities.

This, he said, was detected during the last sequencing that was conducted by the Ghana Health Service.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra Thursday, Dr Kumah Aboagye noted that seven cases were recorded during the sequencing.

“We have also identified Omicron cases in the community. When we did the last sequencing, we saw about seven cases among the community samples,” Dr Kuma-Aboagye said.

On December 1, 2021, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research announced 34 cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant were detected from some 120 samples of returning travellers into the country.

According to the institute, the number represents a 28% positive rate for the samples collected between November 21 and 25, 2021, at the Kotoka International Airport.

This was after the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye announced Ghana’s first cases of the Omicron variant in the country.

Meanwhile, the GHS has caused individuals to maintain safety protocols through frequent hand wash, use of nose mask, sanitizes, vaccinating and ensuring social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.