Dr Yaw Bediako, an Immunologist at the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), has disclosed that Ghanaians should be cautioned on the entrance of Delta variant in communities.
According to him, there is “no surprise” in its infiltration into the country as it has been predicted over the weeks.
Dr Bediako further explained that the Delta variant, like the Alpha variant, was also recorded in the country the same way.
“There’s no surprise there. This is what we’ve been predicting for the past few weeks based on what we had observed. It is the most highly transmissible variant that has emerged so far… and more transmissible than Alpha. Our testing, I know that the Achimota outbreak, the Ghana Health Service has begun to institute a bit more mass testing in that school. But it is possible that there are a large number of asymptomatic infections in other places…”.
Commenting on the detection of Delta variant in the Achimota schools, Dr Bediako revealed that Ghanaians have become complacent in adhering to COVID protocols
“Not adhering to protocols is rampant in this country, from schools to hospitals, public transport to social gatherings.
“It should be a warning that Delta is now in Ghana. There was debate in the beginning whether it’s at the airport or it’s in the community. Now there is no doubt, I believe in the coming days there will be more release on that. So, we have to reverse back to what we were doing in January and February. We have to reverse back to that level of alert”.
Complacence in adhering to safety protocols
Dr Bediako emphasized on the complacent disposition of Ghanaians in adhering to the COVID-19 protocols. According to him, it is obvious that “we have let our guards down and it’s unfortunate”.
The WACCBIP immunologist explained that with our vaccination rate low, the public is exposed to the variant.
“We’ve become complacent… Adherence is much lower, the opportunity for super spreader event is very high because we’ve gone back to having gatherings that breach the protocol. Of course, we cannot just label the schools. Schools are unique in the sense that you have young people close together in boarding school or even day students in classrooms. There is a higher risk of transmission in schools… So, it is concerning, it may be the case that Achimota is not isolated. As I said, if you want to gradually sample students in other schools, you may find a similar situation”.
Delta variant strain
Expounding on what makes it dangerous, Dr Bediako noted that different variant of the virus is subject to “mutation”.
He further explained that originally recorded in India, the variant has wreaked havoc on the Indian community.
That notwithstanding, he intimated that the Alpha variant from the UK was more transmissible prior to the Delta variant.
“The Delta variant is able to transmit from person to person much more easily because it carries a mutation”.
Earlier, the Ghana Health Service confirmed the detection of the Delta variant at the Achimota School.
It follows an earlier report by the health management body that a Senior High School had recorded the Indian strain.
Three students of the school presented influenza-like symptoms at the school’s sickbay between June 14 and 16, 2021.
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