TY - JOUR
T1 - One year after first case of covid-19 in ghana
T2 - Epidemiology, challenges and accomplishments
AU - Amponsah, Seth Kwabena
AU - Tagoe, Benjamin
AU - Afriyie, Daniel Kwame
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Seth Kwabena Amponsah et al. Pan African Medical Journal (ISSN: 1937-8688).
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus, has affected many lives, health systems and economies across the globe. Countries in both resource-rich and poor have equally been affected. In Ghana, COVID-19 has caused morbidity and mortality among the populace. The first two cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ghana in March 2020. At the onset of the pandemic in Ghana, there were challenges in securing isolation centers and quarantine facilities. Nonetheless, the government of Ghana put in place a number of measures in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, to halt the spread of the virus. Some measures taken by the government included partial lockdown of areas deemed hotspots for the spread of the virus. In April 2020, Ghana was ranked number one among African countries in administering tests per million people, because of the effective “trace and test” approach. The government of Ghana also encouraged local manufacturing of personal protective equipment, antivirals and hand sanitizers to help meet the demand of the nation. There were also restrictions on public gathering within the early parts of 2020, and these were eased with time. In February 2021, Ghana became the first country to receive vaccines through the COVAX initiative with a delivery of 600,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. The efforts by Ghana to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic have been commendable. Not withstanding, the adverse impact of the COVID-19 on public health in Ghana has been significant, and there is still a lot to learn from other countries in the sub-region, and the world as whole.
AB - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus, has affected many lives, health systems and economies across the globe. Countries in both resource-rich and poor have equally been affected. In Ghana, COVID-19 has caused morbidity and mortality among the populace. The first two cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ghana in March 2020. At the onset of the pandemic in Ghana, there were challenges in securing isolation centers and quarantine facilities. Nonetheless, the government of Ghana put in place a number of measures in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, to halt the spread of the virus. Some measures taken by the government included partial lockdown of areas deemed hotspots for the spread of the virus. In April 2020, Ghana was ranked number one among African countries in administering tests per million people, because of the effective “trace and test” approach. The government of Ghana also encouraged local manufacturing of personal protective equipment, antivirals and hand sanitizers to help meet the demand of the nation. There were also restrictions on public gathering within the early parts of 2020, and these were eased with time. In February 2021, Ghana became the first country to receive vaccines through the COVAX initiative with a delivery of 600,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. The efforts by Ghana to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic have been commendable. Not withstanding, the adverse impact of the COVID-19 on public health in Ghana has been significant, and there is still a lot to learn from other countries in the sub-region, and the world as whole.
KW - Accomplishments
KW - COVID-19
KW - Challenges
KW - Ghana
KW - Vaccine
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114308923&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.11604/pamj.2021.39.226.29069
DO - 10.11604/pamj.2021.39.226.29069
M3 - Article
C2 - 34630838
AN - SCOPUS:85114308923
SN - 1937-8688
VL - 39
JO - Pan African Medical Journal
JF - Pan African Medical Journal
IS - 226
ER -