Ghana President Says Delta Variant Driving New Covid-19 Wave
Ghana Says Delta Variant Driving Nation’s Third Covid-19 Wave
(Bloomberg) --
Ghana seems to be facing a third wave of coronavirus infections driven by the more transmissible delta variant.
The West African nation restricted the time of events such as weddings and funerals to two hours, banning post-event receptions because of the risk of people abandoning safety protocols such as mask-wearing and social distancing, President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a state broadcast late Sunday.
“It appears that our nation like many others is experiencing a third wave of Covid-19 infections,” he said. “These increased infections have largely been driven by the delta variant of the virus.”
Ghana has seen over 102,000 Covid-19 cases, including 823 deaths, since the first case was reported. Active cases more than tripled to 4,521 as of July 23 from 1,200 in June, according to Akufo-Addo who described the trend as alarming. The delta variant has led in recent weeks to a rise in severe cases and deaths.
“It is obvious from the data that we’ve let our guard down,” he said.
Africa’s biggest gold producer aims to inoculate the entire adult population of 20 million by the end of this year from just 2% of its adults fully vaccinated today.
To reach its target, the government is procuring 17 million single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines, while expecting about 1.5 million of the Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc versions from various sources, Akufo-Addo said. It’s also setting aside $25 million to help fund local vaccine manufacturing.
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