Ghana confirms 1st cases of COVID-19 omicron variant

By Enoch Fiifi Forson

ACCRA, Ghana (AA) - Ghana has recorded its first cases of the novel omicron variant of coronavirus, the Health Service announced on Wednesday.

Director-General of the Ghana Health Service Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said the cases were detected at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on Sunday after testing of incoming passengers.

The omicron strain was identified by South African scientists last week and Nigeria confirmed its first cases on the same day.

Before Ghana, Nigeria Wednesday joined the rapidly growing number of countries where the new mutation has been detected.

"The good thing is that among the community tests we've done so far, we haven't seen any omicron within the community of Ghana,” Aboagye said.

"The danger is if someone has omicron and is incubating, it would not be found at the airport, so we still have to be extremely careful," he urged.

Aboagye made the announcement during a vaccination awareness event, with the West African nation aiming to vaccinate the majority of its citizens before the festive period.

The government has ordered only people who have been vaccinated and can show proof to enter beaches, restaurants, nightclubs, and stadiums.

In Ghana with 31 million population, at least 5.45 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Vaccines provided there include AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson.

With more than 130,000 cases confirmed, the virus has claimed 1,209 lives so far.