The Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, has denied claims that the government is manipulating COVID-19 death figures by under-reporting them.

Pressure group OccupyGhana had said it has cause to suspect that the government is massaging the COVID-19 death toll and also accused officialdom of lacking candour as far as dealing with the virus is concerned.

“The case count is growing steadily by the day – about 200 to 300 new cases per day. At the last count, we had 7,652 confirmed active cases even though that number could be higher (the total number of confirmed cases is 11,964.)”, OccupyGhana said in a statement issued on Monday, 15 June 2020, observing: “There is cause to suspect that the death numbers are being massaged”.

It explained: “The reported 54 deaths so far cannot be right. For instance, even though 38 deaths have been reported from the Ashanti Region alone, less than 20 of those deaths are included in the national count!”

OG warned: “If the public suspects under-reporting etc, there will be a loss of trust in the reporting system and that will have consequences that will influence public behavioural responses”.

At a media briefing on Tuesday, 16 June 2020 at the Ministry of Information, Dr Nsiah Asare said the “figures that you see, that’s what we put forward”. 

“We don’t generate any figures from the policy level”, he insisted, adding: “The presidential task force for that matter, from the presidency, doesn’t generate any figures”.

“There is an implementing agency, so, this COVID-19 fight is led by Ghana Health Service, the teaching hospitals and the ministry of health is the policy level who is also organising them and then we have a presidential task force.”

He noted: “We see the figures as you have seen here today and then we then use the figures to plan and monitor whatever is going on.  We then target the regions and the districts where we are to send resources.” 

“We don’t generate any figures; we don’t manipulate any figures at the presidency or for that matter the presidential task-force level. When the figures are put forward, we take it, plan with it, monitor and then supervise whatever is going on in the country.” 

Meanwhile, four more COVID-19 patients have died, taking the death toll to 58, the Ghana Health Service has announced.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ghana just rose to 12,193 following the confirmation of 229 new cases.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kumah-Aboagye, said on Tuesday, 16 April 2020 that the new cases were confirmed in nine regions.

Additionally, the number of recoveries has inched up to 4,326.