Maintaining quality newborn care in Ghana amid the COVID-19 pandemic

摘要

The novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak and its associated illness (COVID-19), characterized by life-threatening respiratory distress, was first reported in Wuhan China in December 2019 [ ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and subsequently, a pandemic in March 2020 [ ]. The virus has affected almost all countries and territories causing 1,653,204 infections globally and 12,952 infections in Africa as of 11th April 2020 [ ], thus becoming the most important public health problem since the beginning of the 21st century. Ghana confirmed its first two cases on 12th March 2020. Although 105 cases were intenational travelers who underwent mandatory quarantine, of the 408 cases confirmed as of 11th April 2020 [ ], 57.1% are likely due to community transmission detected through enhanced contact tracing and routine surveillance [ ]. Most recently, cases have been reported in persons below 15 years, but the exact age distribution among this group is not publicly known. So far, cases have been reported in eight of the 16 administrative regions of Ghana. In the Northern region, ten cases were confirmed among West African nationals who travelled into the country in March.