The Akufo Addo government has vehemently denied allegations that it is “massaging” Ghana’s COVID-19 death figures.
Pressure Group, OccupyGhana, on Tuesday in a statement on Tuesday alleged it suspects the figures are being massaged.
“There is cause to suspect that the death numbers are being massaged. The reported 54 deaths so far cannot be right. For instance, even though 38 deaths have been reported from the Ashanti Region alone, less than 20 of those deaths are included in the national count!” the statement read in part.
It added: “If the public suspects under-reporting etc, there will be a loss of trust in the reporting system and that will have consequences that will influence public behavioural responses.”
But Presidential Advisor on Health and member of the presidential COVID-19 taskforce Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare at a press briefing in Accra stated that COVID-19 figures are not compiled either by the Ghana Health Service or by the Presidential task force.
“The figures that you see, that’s what we put forward. We don’t generate any figures from the policy level. The presidential task-force for that matter from the presidency doesn’t generate any figures. There is an implementing agency, so this COVID-19 fight is led by Ghana health service, the teaching hospitals and the ministry of health is the policy level who is also organizing them and then we have a presidential task-force.”
Dr Asare added “we see the figures as you have seen here today and then we then use the figures to plan and monitor whatever is going on. We then target the regions and the districts where we are to send resources.”
“We don’t generate any figures; we don’t manipulate any figures at the presidency or for that matter the presidential task-force level. When the figures are put forward, we take it, plan with it, monitor and then supervise whatever is going on in the country.”
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