An Overview of COVID-19 and Its Progression in Ghana

Abstract

This research focuses on the progression of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana, measures put in place to fight the pandemic and evaluation of Ghana’s response in terms of both containing the pandemic and mitigating the social and economic effects of the COVID 19 pandemic. Methods: The study mainly assessed the COVID-19 situation in Ghana within the period of March 2020 to MAY 2021. Data from reputable sources; Ministry of Health, Goggle scholar, Ghana Health Service, CDC, WHO, WTTC and online news articles were retrieved and assessed in quarterly basis. The results were further tabulated and graphically represented using Microsoft Excel application. Results: A total of 94011 cases were recorded by the end of the of May 2021; first quarter of the second year. The highest number of active cases (11897), deaths (295) and critical cases (280) recorded were from December 2020 to February 2021. In the first quarter, the infection rate recorded was 3.77% which increased to 16.10% in the second quarter. However, with reinforcement of the COVID-19 protocol there was a significant decrease in infection rate in the final quarter for the studies; from March to May 2021 (3.60%). Conclusion: Actions adopted by the Ghanaian government so far in handling the pandemic have generated significant achievements. It is however recommended that more control measures such as mass vaccination, mass testing and contact tracing will help track the infection and further reduce the rate of infection.