Ghana has recorded the new variant of COVID-19 following recent genomic sequencing by scientists in the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced.

The infected persons who are mainly international passengers arriving at the airport, have since been isolated while work has begun to establish the extent of spread of the new variant among the general population.

Delivering his 22nd update on measures taken against the spread of the coronavirus on Sunday (17 January 2021), President Akufo Addo said the country is now recording an average of 200 cases daily due to lack of adherence to COVID-19 protocols.

“Recent genomic sequencing undertaken by our scientists have established that some arriving passengers tested positive for new variants of COVID-19. These passengers have all been isolated. Furthermore, work is ongoing to determine the presence and extent of spread of the new variants in the general population,” Akufo-Addo said.

Worrying situation

He added: “Particularly worrying is the fact that the Ghana Health Service is recording, on the average, two hundred (200) new cases of COVID infections daily.”

According to the president, the number of severe cases has also seen a sharp increase in the past two weeks from 18 to 120 while critical cases have now reached 33.

“The number of patients requiring hospitalisation and intensive care is rising. The number of severe cases, which stood at eighteen (18) a week ago, has increased sharply to one hundred and twenty (120). Two weeks ago, there was no critical case, we now have thirty-three (33) in our treatment facilities,” he added.

“Again, according to statistics from the Ghana Health Service, the considerable number of persons who are severely ill are, surprisingly, relatively youthful persons, with no previous underlying health conditions.”

Death toll increasing

Meanwhile, the country’s coronavirus death toll has increased from 338 to 352 within the period, the president stated.

Ghana has also witnessed an upsurge in the number of active cases, from a little over 900 to 1,924.