Research fellow bemoans govt delays in updating COVID-19 figures

Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, a research fellow with the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana) has bemoaned government’s delay in updating the citizenry with current figures of COVID-19 in the country.

He explained that the practice had the tendency to increase public mistrust and suspicion for government and could derail the combat of the pandemic.

“Since Kumasi had its press conference, we are going clear 4,5,6 hours of delays, what is preventing them from telling us what the current data in Accra, Tamale and other places are, when you do things like that you subject the entire data to mistrust, suspicion and that does not augur well for society in times like these,” Mr Asiedu noted.

He observed that it comes hours after the Health Directorate in the Ashanti Region updated its numbers of COVID-19 cases in the region, the Eastern Region has also updated its numbers since Monday, both updates have not been captured in the national figures on the website of the Ghana Health Service and no explanation had been offered for the delay.

As of April 19, 2020, the nation has recorded a total of 1042 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) after testing a total of 68,591 samples with 1.52 per cent testing positive, the results of the backlog of samples when released does not mean the number of new cases recorded on the day of the report. 

Regions that have reported cases remain the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Northern, Volta, Upper East, Upper West, Central, Western and North East regions. -starrfmonline.com