GHS confirms spread of ‘Delta’ variant of COVID-19 at Achimota School; 46 active cases on campus.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has verified the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease’Delta’ strain at Accra’s Achimota School.
On campus, a total of 135 kids and staff tested positive for the coronavirus illness in various forms.
But it is 46 who are currently with active cases of the disease on campus as of Sunday, July 4, 2021.
The active instances on the Achimota campus are a mix of various types, with the Delta variety dominating.
Dr. Patrick Kuma Aboagye, the Director General of the GHS, acknowledged the existence of the Delta form in Achimota but did not divulge the number of cases, only saying that a “substantial” percentage of the cases were the Delta type.
The sick pupils, he added, had been isolated.
On campus, tests are still being administered to students, including those who are day students.
34 Delta variant cases in Ghana
In the instance of the Delta variation, the community spread was discovered in Ghana on July 1, 2021, and Dr Kuma Aboagye stated that a total of 34 cases of the variant had been discovered in Ghana since then.
The Delta strain, which was initially discovered in India and is readily transmissible, was first found in Ghana in April 2021, but only at the Kotoka International Airport’s port of entry (KIA).
By June 22, 2021, when the GHS officially announced the presence of the variant in Ghana, it said it was six cases that had been recorded and they were all detected at the port of entry.
As to that time, no evidence of community spread had been found.
Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, told a news conference in Accra on Sunday [July 4, 2021] that the Achimota cases have been contained on campus for the time being, despite the fact that additional persons are still being examined.
However, he said that it was discovered that procedural adherence on the Achimota School site was extremely poor.
How was the Achimota School crisis discovered?
Three pupils from Achimota School reported to the school’s sickbay with influenza-like symptoms between June 14 and 16, 2021.
All three were tested for COVID-19 in accordance with established guidelines, and they all came back positive.
According to Dr. Kuma Aboagye, this led the Greater Accra Region’s Public Health Emergency Rapid Response Teams (PHERRT) and the GHS’s Okaikoi North Municipal to be activated.
Other symptomatic children and contacts were discovered, named, and tested for COVID-19 after the three kids were quarantined.
They were all placed in mandatory quarantine on campus.
How was the Achimota School crisis discovered?
A total of 843 students and employees had been sampled by July 3, 2021.
There are 348 boarding students, 459 day students, and 36 teachers among them.
The findings of 550 samples are in, with 135 of them testing positive and 293 currently awaiting results.
On July 3, 2021, the 293 pending samples were collected.
Status of cases at Achimota
According to Dr. Aboagye, all 135 patients were asymptomatic or had mild to severe disease at the time of diagnosis.
According to the GHS, one member of staff has been impacted, and about two-thirds of the cases – 89 – have recovered, with 46 instances still active.
