Covid-19: Spike in Obuasi Cases traced to a Trader

The Sharp rise in Covid-19 cases at Obuasi in the Ashanti Region has been traced to a trader who operated at the Central Market of the metropolis, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has revealed.

The trader, name undisclosed, was said to be a student that had come to Obuasi from Hohoe-Volta Region.

According to the head of the GHS Disease Surveillance Department, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, the trader infected about 17 persons, who in turn infected more persons, leading to a sudden spike in the cases within a short period.

“This person [in focus] actually infected quite a number of persons. In total that trader actually infected 17 persons”

Speaking in reference to a graph on Obuasi’s infection rate curve, he explained that after the trader had transmitted the disease to a significant number of persons, the trajectory of the disease spread changed for the worse.

 “So you can see that after the 20th or 21st, the trajectory of events in Obuasi changed, and you can ascertain that 72 percent of cases in Obuasi occurred between April 21st to April 25th”

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Briefing the media on the pandemic situation in Obuasi today [May 19, 2020], Dr Asiedu-Bekoe attributed the continuous rise in Covid-19 cases at the area to its dense population and non-adherence to precautionary measures.

In addressing the situation, he noted that, health officials are carrying out enhanced contact tracing in some densely populated communities within Obuasi, to pick out cases early, as a measure of curtailing the spread.

In addition, a 100-bed isolation centre is being set up to augment other health facilities in managing the cases in the Obuasi.

Currently, Ghana’s case count of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) stands at 5,918  with 31 deaths