The Western Regional Director of the Veterinary Service, Dr Simon Gbene has attributed the high rates of infections of the new variant of COVID-19 in the region, to the high number of foreign companies there.
He noted that employees of these companies, mostly expatriates and their families returning to Ghana after travels were infected in their home regions and returned with the new variant of the virus.
He made this known in an interview with Samuel Eshun, host of the Happy Morning Show aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy FM.
Dr. Gbene attributing the intrusion of the new variant into the Region to the daily influx of foreigners said;
“We have a lot of foreign companies in the region, especially oil ones. And people from these companies after touching down in Accra move straight to Takoradi. I think it is because of these visits that we have recorded high cases of the new variant of the virus with mortality rates increasing”.
On his accord, the new variant in the Western Region currently is the UK one which has a high rate of infection. To him, this makes the fight against the virus difficult. “The genetic sequence on some samples sent to Noguchi had proven that, the new variant was present in the Region and, therefore, we residents to be cautious. We need to be careful and advice the populace on obeying all safety protocols”, Dr. Gbene stated.
President Akufo-Addo in his 22nd address to the nation on measures taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic disclosed, a new variant of the novel coronavirus has been detected within the country.
“Recent genomic sequencing undertaken by our scientists have established that some arriving passengers tested positive for new variants of COVID-19,” he said.
