The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has warned the general public not to downplay the existence of COVID-19, as new cases have recently emerged, particularly within the University of Ghana community.
According to GHS, COVID-19 remains present in the country and has never been eradicated since its initial outbreak in 2020.
Director of Public Health at the GHS, Dr. Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, emphasized that the virus continues to circulate at low levels across the country and was never declared eliminated.
“COVID never left. COVID has been with us since 2020. Somewhere last year, the Director-General of WHO said that COVID is no longer an issue of emergency; we never said COVID is gone. If it were gone, WHO would declare an end to the pandemic,” he stated on Citi Eyewitness News on Thursday, June 26,
Dr. Asiedu-Bekoe noted that Ghana’s surveillance systems remain active and have consistently picked up new cases. He explained that the recent infections recorded at the University of Ghana appear to have spread during a hall week celebration on campus.
“There was this hall week celebration, and because we had a cluster of students, one of whom had the virus, it caused the spread. But I want to put it in context that COVID never left, and this is not the first time we are recording new cases. We’ve seen infections over the past weeks and months,” he said.
He urged the public especially institutions to revisit established COVID-19 safety protocols as a preventive measure and endorsed the University of Ghana’s decision to suspend social events.