On March 12, last year, Ghana recorded it first two cases of the deadly coronavirus disease.

Since then the country has seen a rapid surge in infection rates due to the massive disregard for the Covid-19 safety protocols.

The non-adherence to the safety protocols has eroded the country's effort in its fight against the pandemic.

Government in pursuance to combat the disease in the early stages imposed some restrictions i.e the ban on social gathering, a lockdown, closure of the borders and schools, etc, to curb the spread of the virus.

Despite the restrictions, a lot of people have succumbed to the virus.

At the last count on February 8, Ghana has lost 472 lives to the virus.

Some 137 of these deaths occurred within two months in 2021 as compared to a total death toll of 335 within 10 months of 2020.

According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Ghana’s confirmed cases has increased exponentially to 71,533 as of 8th February this year and records show more than 700 newly confirmed cases daily with current active cases of 6,411.

GHS further revealed that the current trend of infections and death toll can be attributed to the new variant of the novel coronavirus detected within the country.

It said the new Covid-19 variants are spreading faster and widely among the Ghanaian population, with higher disease burden and much more potent than the old one.

The Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye has entreated Ghanaians to step up with the wearing of facemasks and observing other safety protocols to avoid contracting the deadly virus.