“Our policies are working,” he said, and entreated the citizenry to work assiduously to maintain the current status quo regarding the maintenance of personal hygiene, social distancing and the mandatory wearing of nose masks.

The President said the rapid execution of policies such as the ban on social gathering, and closure of schools and borders had resulted in “our low COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation and death rates - some of the lowest in Africa and the world.”

Ghana, as at Sunday, May 17, has recorded 5,735 confirmed cases, with 1,754 recoveries and 29 deaths, according to the Ghana Health Service’s portal on COVID-19.

Of the number, 3,906 were detected through contact tracing, and 1, 714 through general surveillance, while 115 represented quarantined cases.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was giving a situational analysis of Ghana’s fight against COVID-19 at a ground-breaking ceremony at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, asked all and sundry to strictly adhere to the health protocols and guidelines.

That, he said, was the only way the country could minimise the spread of the dreaded pandemic, which had claimed over 310,000 lives from more than four million confirmed cases worldwide.

Information gathered by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) indicates that a total of 173,096 persons had been tested so far since the nation recorded her first two cases on March 12, 2020, giving a positivity rate of 3.29.

The count of cases per region puts Greater Accra on top with 4,314 cases, and Ashanti Region with 818 cases, making them the two hotspots for the pandemic.

The ground-breaking ceremony, with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in attendance, was to reactivate works on the 44-year-old abandoned KATH Maternity and Children’s Block.

The 800-bed facility, upon completion, is expected to help ease pressure on the existing structures constructed in 1954.

It comes with facilities such as emergency reception for children and pregnant women, 10 theatres, intensive care unit, and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) unit.

The rest are breastfeeding centre, paediatric surgery unit, pharmacy, dedicated medical oxygen plant, lecture halls, and cafeteria.

Messrs Contracta Construction (UK) Company Limited is executing the project within a three-year period.