The Ghana Health Services (GHS) has once more been caught posting misleading data on the number of Covid-19 cases in Ghana as the Volta Region exposes the service.
On May 1 2020, the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) issued a press statement saying there were issues with the figures of infections making the rounds about data from the region.
The VRCC insists that the “actual number” of Covid-19 in the Region is 30, instead of the 16 posted by the GHS.
Apparently, the VRCC was forced to set the records straight after Ketu South Municipality alone on April 30, 2020 officially confirmed that had 11 cases out of the alleged 16 published by the GHS.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa wrote in the May 1 press statement: “The Regional Public Health Emergency Management Committee (RPHEMC) met today, Friday, 1st May 2020 to review the COVID-19 actual number of positive cases in the Region as at date., following reports received from the Ketu South Municipal Assembly on New COVID-19 cases recorded from the area….This brings the total number of confirmed cases detected in the Volta Region to Thirty (30) as at 1st May 2020.”
Meanwhile, as of May 3, 2020, the GHS has on its website a total of 19 Covid-19 cases for the Volta Region instead of the 30 “actual numbers” outlined by the VRCC.
The GHS also lists the national total cases of Covid-19 at 2,169. If the figures from the Volta Region is taken into account, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Ghana should be 2,180 instead of 2,169.
This is the umpteenth time that the Covid-19 statistics from the GHS have been contested. A few weeks ago, the GHS claimed the two major research centres have tested over 80,000 people within 30 days, even though the combined daily testing capacity of these research facilities hardly exceed 1,500.