COVID-19: Gov’t directs all public laboratories to provide free testing
The Ministry of Health has directed that all public COVID-19 testing laboratories providing walk-in services should charge only travelers for COVID-19 testing.
A statement issued and signed by Kwabena Boadu Oku-Afari, acting chief director of the Ministry of Health said all other walk-in requests such as ill-health, contact tracing, and exposure must be done free of charge using public health resources.
Read the full statement below:
Arrest
At least 31 people have been arrested by the police in Damongo in the Savannah Region for not wearing face masks, the police have confirmed.
The suspected lawbreakers – 29 males and two females – were found flouting the mandatory wearing of face masks as directed by President Akufo-Addo in his latest address to the nation on COVID-19. The culprits were each made to buy a mask from the police after their arrest.
Speaking to the media after the arrests, the deputy Savannah regional police commander, DCOP Ebenezer Larbi, warned residents always to wear face masks, to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
He further said that the police will question the individuals who were arrested and will grant them bail after they have been cautioned.
Case update
At least 616 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease have been confirmed, taking Ghana’s active case count to 3,813, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) is reporting. The total number of confirmed cases since March 2020 now stands at 62,751.
Five more individuals have died from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 377 since the last update, the official GHS website says.
Officially, 58,561 recoveries have been recorded.
Regional cases
Greater Accra – 36,205
Ashanti – 11,827
Western – 3,380
Eastern – 2,735
Central – 2,228
Volta – 886
Bono East – 802
Western North – 695
Bono – 654
Northern – 635
Upper East – 577
Ahafo – 539
Oti – 246
Upper West – 171
Savannah – 63
North East – 25
