Head of Critical and Severe Cases at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Chris Owoo, has revealed that the Outpatient Department (OPD) at the Ghana Infectious Disease Center is receiving a significant number of Covid-19 patients.

Speaking on Joy FM, he stated that statistics show that the majority of those infected are individuals who have not been vaccinated.

"Our Covid OPDs are already filling up as I speak now. If you come to the Ghana Infectious Disease Center, what you would have is over 30 or 40 people whereas 4 weeks ago we had 1, 2 or even 0. Majority of those who are coming to the OPDs with mild or moderate diseases are still those who are unvaccinated but the proportions are about 60 to 70 per cent unvaccinated and 40 to 30 per cent who are vaccinated.

Those who are coming into our ICUs are those unvaccinated. We have shown evidence that in our facility that 98 per cent of those who have ended up requiring ICUs are those who did not vaccinate," he said.

Interacting with Araba Koomson on Mid-Day News on Thursday, Dr. Owoo also indicated that health workers are contracting the deadly coronavirus disease and records show the number is on the rise.

"We have started picking up new infections and it is gradually rising. For health workers, this is even more important because we work in proximity. We are already having a significant rise in new cases among healthcare workers."

His comment comes to support reports from the Ghana Medical Association which has indicated that many of its members are contracting the virus in this latest wave of infections.

President of the Association, Dr Frank Serebuor told JoyNews that "we are having a lot of cases in the hospital at the moment. We have some of our doctors who are testing positive. A lot of the nurses are testing positive. There are some wards in some hospitals that are basically being run by other people from other wards. Meaning all the people in those wards have tested positive and are told to go home.

"I am in a very small facility but I can tell you that three out of seven of my doctors have tested positive," he added.

Meanwhile, Dr. Chris Owoo has explained that many more people are being vaccinated.

"Those who are vaccinated, if it is low proportion will still be able to get infected. So vaccination actually does more in preventing severe and critical disease," he stated.

Data released from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) shows that 13 people have died from Covid-19 in the past six days.

As of December 18, Ghana's death toll stood at 1,269. Four new deaths were recorded within 24 hours, which led to that figure.

Currently, active and new cases stand at 3,165 and 321 respectively.