Achimota School to test its day students for Delta variant

Some 134 students and a staff of Achimota School have tested positive for Covid-19, with most cases said to be the new Delta Variant.

According to the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, the first three cases were detected in some students between June 14 and 16 this year.

He explained that the development sparked a mass testing regime in the school.

In all, 843 persons in the school, including students and staff were sampled as of July 1, 2021.

Out of the 550 samples received, 135 returned positive, he said.

“All 135 cases at the time of diagnosis were either asymptomatic or had very mild to moderate illness. One member of staff is among those affected” he said.

So far, 89 students have recovered while 46 of the remaining cases are still active, the GES Director-General added.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service say measures are being put in place to improve health education in the institution.

This includes the enforcement of Infection Prevention and Control protocols on campus.

At the press conference on Sunday, the GHS revealed that a total of 1,212 Covid-19 samples sequenced countrywide since July 1 have also shown the dominance of the Alpha variant.

Research conducted by the institutions such as NMIMR, WACBIP and UHAS confirms a community spread of the Delta strain which is known to have a higher transmission rate.