Dr. Joseph Humphrey Kofi Bonney, a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Virology at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, says Ghana is facing a worrisome COVID-19 virus resurgence, with verified cases significantly beyond what is being officially reported.
Just days after the University of Ghana voiced concerns over a number of cases in the area, he gave a strong warning on JoyNews today.
Active surveillance suggests a wider spread of the virus, according to Dr. Bonney, who is in charge of the National Influenza Centre at Noguchi, a WHO-designated center for respiratory viruses.
“COVID is more or less now living with us, so it’s more or less like endemic,” Dr. Bonney explained, outlining the institute’s role in continuously testing for respiratory illnesses from sentinel sites across the country.
He detailed a discernible pattern in the data: “From February, we had a little spike, not too much… then somewhere in May, we started getting cases from other regions: Eastern Region, Greater Accra (some parts outside the university district), Volta Region, and Ashanti Region. So we have had cases from all these regions.”
He stated that what “broke the camel’s back” and led to the university’s public announcement was the “overwhelming number of cases” from the University of Ghana community two weeks ago.
Professor Bonney emphasized that this is “not a localised resurgence” and that it is mainly to be expected, as respiratory illnesses tend to increase during Ghana’s current rainy season.
Milder but highly transmissible variant, vulnerable groups at risk
Professor Bonney verified that the strain in circulation is the Omicron variant, more precisely a “slightly different subvariant” that is being watched at the moment but is “not of concern” in terms of severity.
“Now it is milder; it is not as severe as we should be more or less be careful of, but what is about this Omicron is that it is highly transmissible,” he cautioned, meaning it can spread very fast.
Professor Bonney cautioned about the danger to vulnerable groups, even though it is generally moderate for immune-competent people.
“We are talking about in a community where we will have vulnerable groups, and that is where we should be afraid of… it may not be so severe on the very, let’s say, immune-competent persons or younger ones, but what about those who are vulnerable in the society?”
Regarding the effectiveness of currently available vaccinations, Professor Bonney restated that the original COVID-19 vaccines were intended to prevent serious illness rather than eradicate the virus. He emphasized that immunity may decline due to new strains and resurgences, requiring booster shots.
The necessity for updated vaccinations was suggested by him. “Anytime we are having a resurgence, that means it gets driven by slightly different strains, and so that means we may have immunity waning,” he added.
The University of Ghana’s Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Rosina Kyerematen, confirmed the situation on campus, saying that the numbers were “increasing gradually” and that this prompted actions like banning social gatherings (apart from lectures).
Professor Kyerematen reaffirmed the university’s commitment to implementing rules like mask-wearing, hand sanitization, and social separation, despite reports that students have objected to these limitations.
Additionally, she pointed out that the huge, migratory university population made it impossible to determine whether illnesses were imported or domestically created.