Epidemiology of COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana, 2020

Objective: Describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 cases detected in the first four months of the pandemic in Ghana by person, place and time to provide an understanding of the local epidemiology of the disease Methods: We conducted an exploratory descriptive study of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ghana from March 12 to June 30, 2020 Data was merged from the country's electronic databases, cleaned and summarized using medians, proportions and geospatial analysis Design: A cross-sectional study design Setting: Ghana Participants: All confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ghana from March 12 to June 30, 2020 Interventions: None Main Outcome measures: Epidemiological characterization of all confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded from March 12 - June 30, 2020 in Ghana by person, place and time Results: A total of 17,763 cases were recorded with median age (IQR) of 33years (One month to 85 years) Among the confirmed cases, 10,272 (57 8%) were males and 3,521 (19 8%) were symptomatic with cough recorded in 1,420 (40 3%) cases The remaining 14,242 (80 2%) were asymptomatic Greater Accra region recorded the highest number of confirmed cases 11,348 (63 9%) All 16 administrative regions had recorded cases of COVID-19 by June 30, 2020 due to internal migration between the hotspots and other regions The epidemiological curve showed a propagated outbreak with 117 deaths (CFR= 0 67%) recorded Conclusion: A propagated outbreak of COVID - 19 was confirmed in Ghana on March 12, 2020 Internal migration from hotspots to other regions led to the spread of the virus across the nation Majority of cases were asymptomatic © 2020 Ghana Medical Association All right reserved