Coronavirus cases in Ghana top 23,000

ABUJA, Nigeria 

The number coronavirus cases in Ghana surpassed 23,000 Thursday with 641 infections reported over the past 24 hours, according to the country’s health authorities. 

Confirmed cases rose to 23,463, while the nationwide death toll stands at 129. The total number of recoveries reached 18,622.

No deaths from the virus have been reported in the last two days.

Ghana’s capital, Accra, along with Ashanti and the Western and Central regions are the worst-hit areas.

The number of coronavirus cases in Africa has exceeded 554,000, while the death toll on the continent is nearing 12,500.

In a statement on local radio, Ghana’s Education Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh said 90% of the Education Ministry’s employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Most of the employees remain in quarantine in their homes, said Prempeh, who has been discharged from the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago.

Since first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Brazil, India and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed more than 554,000 people worldwide, with an excess of 12.22 million confirmed cases and over 6.7 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.