The Minister for Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has disclosed that Ghana has so far tested 50,719 samples of persons believed to have been exposed to the novel Coronavirus in a bid to check the extent of the disease in the country.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Thursday, April 16, 2020, the Ofoase-Ayirebi legislator stated that the tests were carried out in three folds, namely surveillance testing, mandatory quarantined testing and enhanced testing.
Government in March 2020 decided to undertake what it described as enhanced contact tracing and testing.
This gave the government the opportunity to trace persons suspected to have been exposed to coronavirus-infected persons.
According to the Minister of Information, within the enhanced testing category, “a total 34,859 tests” have been done and out of the number 258 of samples taken tested positive for COVID-19.
“So if you put it together, as at yesterday, we have done 50,719 tests and 1.3% of the people tested positive,” Kojo Oppong Nkrumah added noting that the enhanced contact tracing has been very helpful.
Ghana has currently recorded 641 confirmed COVID-19 cases, eight deaths and 83 recoveries.
The government recently launched the COVID-19 Tracker app to help track telephone numbers of people who have recently been to certain countries around the world.
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) will use the information to determine who to provide an extra layer of screening to.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia during the launch of the app noted that Ghana’s effectiveness in contact tracing has put it ahead of the USA, the UK and most African countries with regards to COVID-19 testing.
