Dr Justice Yankson, General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, has hinted that his outfit is overwhelmed with the increase in the number of cases across the various regions of the country.
According to him, the community spread of the novel Coronavirus is gaining grounds in the regions, and this does not go down well with the fight against the virus.
Speaking on Citi TV’s Point of View, Dr Yankson expressed worry that the virus is gradually spreading through the sixteen regions of the country.
“Some of the regions are also beginning to register higher numbers. As of today [May 11, 2020], Obuasi has actually surpassed Kumasi in terms of the numbers,” he said.
He continued: “And this basically tells you that, the community spread is beginning to gain a lot more ground.”
Dr Yankson noted that anytime there was testing which involved groups of people, like the factory in Tema with some 1300 workers where 533 were confirmed positive, “you almost always will pick huge numbers of persons who are infected”.
This he said simply means “within our communities, from the lower, middle and upper classes, the virus has permeated. If you take regional basis, we are having cases across board, in terms of gender, it involves both male and females as well as kids...gradually our society is actually taken over by COVID-19.”
Dr Yankson observed that when the growth rate is juxtaposed to the number of health facilities in the country, then you will realise that the country is in trouble.
He added that it has been established by the Director of Clinical Care of Ghana Health Service that persons with COVID-19 who are being cared for in the hospitals are getting better outcomes compared to those going through home-care.
Dr. Yankson explained further that if the health systems are overwhelmed, a lot of people will not get access to medical care and this will result in an increase in the death rate of COVID-19.
Ghana’s latest confirmed data on COVID-19 stands at 4,700 recorded cases; 4,184 total active cases; 494 recoveries; and 22 deaths.
The Greater Accra region leads with 3,892 cases, followed by the Ashanti region with 355 cases.
Find below the count of cases per region.
Greater Accra Region - 3,892
Ashanti Region - 355
Central Region - 127
Eastern Region - 99
Western North Region - 56
Western Region - 49
Volta Region - 32
Upper East Region - 26
Oti Region - 24
Upper West Region - 21
Northern Region - 16
North East Region - 2
Bono Region - 1
Savannah Region - 0
Ahafo Region - 0
Bono East Region - 0
Dr Justice Yankson, General Secretary, Ghana Medical Association