Ghana yesterday recorded 183 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), putting its total tally at 5,918.

According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), deaths resulting from the virus have risen to 31 from 29,although the number of recoveries remains at 1,754.

As it stands, the country’s active cases are 4,128 with five persons in critical and moderately ill conditions at the various treatment centres.

Director General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, explained that the new cases had come from six out of the 16 regions across the country.

The Greater Accra Region, which remains the country’s epicentre, leads the new infections with 108, Ashanti Region 63, Volta seven, Central two, Oti two and the Eastern Region, one.

The Accra Metropolitan Area, Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly, Ayawaso West, Ledzokuku and Tema Metropolis recorded highest numbers for the Greater Accra Region with Obuasi and Kumasi Metropolis leading the Ashanti Region’s figure.

The Savannah, Ahafo and the Bono East regions still remain the areas with no confirmed cases of the virus in Ghana.

Touching on the spike in the number of recoveries, Dr Kuma-Aboagye clarified that the “exponential recovery rate is because we have more cases and it takes about three weeks for people to recover so the backlog of people who have tested negative over the period is what is coming in to increase the recoveries.”

The Director-General indicated that Ghana’s recovery rate stands at 29.6 per cent with further breakdown of the recoveries to include the Greater Accra, 22 per cent, “Ashanti with 213 recoveries, (24 per cent), Central, 14 recoveries (2 per cent), Oti (28 per cent), Western, eight recoveries and with North East Region, they had two cases, one died and the other has recovered.”

Meanwhile Dr Kuma-Aboagye pointed out that in the event of COVID-19 related deaths, families and health workers were not allowed to touch or come into contact with the deceased.

“We do what we call supervised burials so we have trained environmental health service workers who handle and assist the families to undertake such burials to prevent infections,” he stated.

Adding his voice, Dr Badu Sarkodie, Director of Public Health, GHS, said all pathologists who perform autopsies on COVID-19 related bodies, are well equipped with right personal protective equipment to ensure utmost safety.

“We also advise they exercise extra caution in handling specific organs, especially the parts known to have the highest concentration of the virus like the respiratory and gastric terminal systems because it is quite risky to do autopsy in such areas.”

BY ABIGAIL ANNOH