Background Ghana confirmed the first two cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) infection on 12th March 2020. Following this, the government introduced routine and enhanced contact tracing to identify, quarantine, and test contacts for COVID-19. This study, therefore, intends to document the experiences of contact tracers, their supervisors, during COVID-19 containment in Ghana. Methods Purposive sampling was used to select twenty-seven (27) participants; sixteen contact tracers, six supervisors, and five contacts of COVID-19 cases for an in-depth interview using a topic guide. These interviews were conducted on a phone or face-to-face basis whilst maintaining physical distancing protocol. All these were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Then, QSR NVivo 12 was used to analyse the data thematically. Results Contact tracers were selected based on their professional background and surveillance experience with other infectious diseases. They were trained before the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and before deployment. Deployment of contact tracers was in pairs to monitor contacts daily through physical visits or over the phone. Their activities included educating contacts about the condition, filling the symptoms diary, and providing psychological support. Contacts for COVID-19 were identified through case investigation, and their monitoring is done once a day despite the twice-daily requirement. Wherever a case was confirmed, enhanced contact tracing within a 2km radius was done. Furthermore, it was reported that some contacts were not adhering to the self-quarantine. In addition to this, other challenges included; unstable provision of PPEs and remuneration, refusal of some contact to test, delays in receiving test results, and poor coordination of the whole process. Conclusions The study concludes that contact tracing was generally perceived to be helpful in COVID-19 containment in Ghana. However, adhering to self-quarantine protocol had many challenges for both contact tracers and the contacts. Improving coordination and quick release of test results to contacts is necessary for COVID-19 containment. Lastly, the supply of Personal Protection Equipment and motivation needs to be addressed to help position the country well for effective contact tracing.

Background: Malaria is endemic throughout Ghana, with children under five years and pregnant women being the most at risk of the severe form of the disease. The Ghana malaria control programme recommends a minimum of five doses of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy using sulphadoxine pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP). Available data show that IPTp-SP uptake in the Ningo-Prampram district is much lower than the regional and national averages. Method:A facility-based cross-sectional analytic study was conducted to assess client and service provider factors associated with uptake of five doses of SP using the mixed method. Results: A total of 457 nursing mothers who had delivered within a period of six months, aged 15- 45 years participated in the study. Uptake of five doses of SP was 15.3% (70/457) with 27 of the women (5.91%) not receiving any dose of SP. Among those who received the drug, 207 (48.14%) took the first dose at week 16 of gestation. The average number of ANC visits made was 5.71 (range 0- 13), with 26.7% (122/457) making the minimum recommended eight ANC visits. Seven of the women did not attend ANC at all during their most recent pregnancy. The gestational age at taking first dose of SP (AOR 0.31, 95% CI:0.15-0.62), the number of ANC sessions attended (AOR 3.8, 95% CI: 2.05-7.05) and the level of knowledge of the mother about IPTp-SP (AOR 2.51, 95% CI:1.25-5.04) were significantly associated with receiving five doses of SP. Conclusion: The level of uptake of five doses of SP was low. Encouraging women to initiate ANC early during pregnancy and also to make more visits through health education by midwives could help improve uptake of IPTp-SP in the Ningo-Prampram district of Ghana and other similar settings.