The Ghana Health Service says the country has entered its fourth wave of COVID-19.

Speaking to Citi News, the Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Franklin Asiedu Bekoe said the rate of infection is very high due to the omicron variant.

“The rate of infection is very high now due to the new variant, the omicron variant which is very transmissible.”

“Though most of the cases are not severe, it is quite alarming. We are in the fourth wave of the pandemic and we need all Ghanaians to take the safety protocols seriously.”

A section of the public has proposed a lockdown due to the spike in cases of the virus.

But the Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) , Dr. Justice Yankson said Ghanaians will need to rather focus on strictly adhering to the safety protocols.

“We haven’t gotten to the point where a lockdown is necessary. The best we can do is to strictly enforce and adhere to the protocols. We need to intensify sensitization as well.”

“We need to relook some of the measures we enforced in the past, see how helpful they were to us and replicate same.”

Ghana’s COVID-19 active cases now stand at 8,554 with over a thousand cases recorded daily for three consecutive days.

Following the confirmation of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Ghana’s population and amidst the Christmas festivities, the government of Ghana has introduced strict measures to control the spread of the virus.

Earlier this month, it said all persons flying in and out of the country are to be fully vaccinated and to strictly follow stipulated guidelines for both self-preservation and the protection of the larger society.

It also warned that airlines which bring in passengers to the Kotoka International Airport who are not fully vaccinated shall be surcharged U$3,500 per passenger; and airlines which board passengers without PCR test results, or transport and disembark passengers with positive PCR test results into Accra will also be fined US$3,500 per passenger.