A Fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, has attributed the rising cases of COVID-19 to the rains and flooding in the country.
According to him, currently Ghana is not actively testing and the only people who are being picked up are those who get symptomatic and go to the hospitals. He explained that that should “tell us that there is a latent infection” going on and it’s getting higher.
Dr Asiedu revealed if the rains continue and people are forced to stay indoors a lot more with poor ventilation, the country will see a slight uptake.
“My suspicion is that, especially in Accra, with the rains coming in and the flooding, resulting in the fact that people have had to shelter indoors a lot more than they previously had and therefore they are interacting more, people are getting more infected. Then, the infections are affecting people who are more susceptible to go to the hospitals and that is why we having this uptake in our active case numbers.”
Dr Kwame Sarpong Asiedu
The CDD-Ghana fellow highlighted that although it is very difficult to put a finger on any particular reason for the rise in cases, there are still some justifications for the surge in cases. He stated that although people are not required to wear face masks now, it doesn’t mean one must not wear them.
Addressing rising COVID cases
Mr Asiedu expressed that despite the fact that the President made the announcement that the wearing of face masks was no longer“mandatory doesn’t mean it wasn’t necessary”. He elaborated that enough distinction wasn’t made between what was “mandatory which was backed by law and an LI, and what was necessary to keep us safe”.
“The thing is, with COVID-19, it never totally went away. There was always a latent low-level infection rate going on but because it’s a disease whereby a lot of people might be mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic, [does not mean] nothing was happening… I say so because currently Ghana is not actively testing. ”
Dr Kwame Sarpong Asiedu
Dr Aseidu iterated that if the rains continue and people have to stay indoors, there is going to be a slight uptake. That notwithstanding, he opined that the saving grace is the fact that “mortalities haven’t followed the increase in cases”.
“…. My suspicion is because a lot of people who have underlying conditions have been vaccinated, it’s a good thing. So, they are getting infected but because they have been vaccinated, their systems are able to overpower it…”
Dr Kwame Sarpong Asiedu
The CDD-Ghana fellow stated that doctors within the health system are also learning how to manage COVID a lot better since the disease has existed for over two years. This, he explained, has helped in keeping people safe.
To rectify the situation, Dr Asiedu revealed that ideally, what government should be doing is getting more people vaccinated and urge the public to wear their “face coverings more and observing the protocols”. He emphasized that ensuring complaince to protocols is crucial and will see the country through the current surge in cases of the virus although the wearing of face masks isn’t mandatory.
