99% of people tested for coronavirus so far are negative - Ghana Health Service

Ninety nine per cent (99%) of people tested for COVID-19 in the country so far are negative, a Ghana Health Service report cited by Ghanaweb.com has revealed.

The report, which the GHS has presented to government's COVID-19 Monitoring Team which is chaired by Vice President Dr. Bawumia, gives a detailed breakdown of tests and cases from mandatory airport quarantine, normal surveillance and enhanced contact tracing.

Ghana has embarked on aggressive mass testing as one of its strategies to tackle the coronavirus, and so far, 50,517 tests have been conducted.

Out of the 50,517 tested, a whopping 49,881 have tested negative, while 636, representing just 1% have tested positive.

The trend so far is a massive boost to Ghana's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as other countries are registering lower negative percentage rates.

The latest Ghana Health Service figures of confirmed cases also show an encouraging news of 17 recoveries, a significant rise from the previous figure of 4 with an additional 66 who have already tested negative in their first of two required tests.

Government's handling of Ghana's COVID-19 has been hailed, with the country receiving plaudits for its aggressive surveillance and rapid testing.

Within four weeks of confirming its first COVID-19 case, Ghana has tested 50,517 people, which is the highest in Africa per capita and among the top 20 in the world.

In terms of highest number of tests conducted by African countries, Ghana, which recorded its first case 4 weeks ago, is ranked second behind South Africa, which registered its first positive COVID-19 case nearly six weeks ago.

Head of Ghana's COVID-19 Monitoring Team, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Monday explained government's three-pronged strategy of testing, contact tracing and treatment towards curbing the spread of the Coronavirus in Ghana.

He said government's remarkable high testing rate is due to the availability of data to both government and health officials.

The Vice President explained that government relies on the data to trace contacts of infected persons, test such contacts and also put confirmed positive persons on treatment in a three-pronged cycle to combat the disease.