Killer delta COVID variant enters Achimota school

The dreaded ‘Delta’ variant of COVID-19 has entered the Ghanaian community and a significant number of cases have been confirmed at the Achimota School in Accra, the Ghana Health Service revealed at a press briefing in Accra on Sunday.

The GHS said  a total of 146 students and staff of the school all tested positive for various variants and strains of COVID-19 but the dominant variant among the positive cases turned out to be the Delta variant.

Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagy, Director General of the GHS, Dr who made the revelation did not state the exact number of Delta variant cases in the school but generally summarized it as being a “significant” number of cases.

He said the first three cases were detected in some students between June 14 and 16 last month and this made the GHS embark on a mass testing exercise in the school.

Some 843 persons in the school, including both students and staff were tested as of July 1, 2021. Out of the 550 samples received, 135 returned positive.

He said 89 students have so far recovered while 46 of the remaining cases are still active and receiving treatment.

“All 135 cases at the time of diagnosis were either asymptomatic or had very mild to moderate illness. One member of staff is among those affected” Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagy noted.

He said the Achimota cases have been contained on the campus as of now, even though more people were still being tested but added that it was detected that the adherence of the protocols on the campus of Achimota School was very low.