Claims that we are Massaging Covid-19 Figures are “Unfair”- GHS Replies OccupyGhana
GHS said, than covid-19 updates and its subsequent reportage are procedurally done
Jonas Danquah 
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has denied allegations by pressure group, Occupy Ghana, that it was under-reporting Ghana’s COVID-19 death toll.
Occupy Ghana in a statement on Monday, June 15, 2020, said the GHS was “massaging” covid-19 figures to water down the severity of the pandemic situation in Ghana.
OccupyGhana’s arguments were hinged on the fact that that though 38 deaths have been reported from the Ashanti Region alone, less than 20 of those deaths are included in the national count.
“There is cause to suspect that the death numbers are being massaged. The reported 54 deaths [as of June 15, 2020] 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,” OccupyGhana noted in a statement.
In response, the GHS in a statement said these allegations levied against it were “unfair and an affront to [their] professional integrity.”
The GHS said the delay in certain updates spur from the fact that figures reported have to through the process of verification and validation.
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“The reporting on data including deaths and recoveries at the National level goes beyond just numbers and includes epidemiological and clinical states of the cases. It requires a bit more time to verify and validate. In that context, the Regional-level data will normally be higher than the National data at any given time.”
“Going by this norm, the region will first report through their Situational Report to Director-General and other partners. We must remember that the Regional Health Administration is part of the Ghana Health Service and as such if there is a grand scheme to massage the figures on deaths as is being alleged, the region will not report such figures through its situational report. This allegation of data massaging, in our opinion is very unfair and an affront to our professional integrity,” portions of the Ghana Health Service statement read.
Read Full Statement Below
