We need to intensify mask wearing campaign - GHS

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says it needs to intensify the wearing of face mask campaign as COVID-19 cases keep rising.

According to the service, a recent survey conducted revealed that only 14.4% of the population in the Greater Accra Region wears face masks.

At a press conference, Director-General of GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said the campaign to adhere to the wearing of face masks during this period must be intensified else Ghana’s gains in the fight against the disease will be derailed.

READ ALSO: Ghana's Covid-19 death toll hits 270

“Greater Accra is the one that is driving the pandemic [in Ghana] and so it is extremely important that we reset and go back and start wearing the mask so that as active cases are coming down, it will continue to go down. We started with one case and now 43,000. Where we are now, we need to be very careful. That is our major worry and we need to intensify the campaign [for wearing face masks],” he said.

The wearing of face masks has become mandatory because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

An earlier survey conducted by the Ghana Health Service in Accra noted that 82 percent of the sampled population possessed face masks and had the intention to use them.

However, out of this number, the survey showed that only 44.3 percent of them use the face mask correctly.

Ghana's COVID-19 case count currently stands at 43,841.

The recoveries count also stands at 42,246 and the death toll has hit 270.

Currently, Ghana has 1,325 active cases and Accra still leads the pack with 21,794 cases.