Introduction among others, the objectives of Ghana’s COVID-19 surveillance system are to rapidly detect, test, isolate and manage cases, to monitor trends in COVID-19 deaths and to guide the implementation and adjustment of targeted control measures. We therefore aimed to examine the operations of the COVID-19 surveillance system in New Juaben South Municipality, describe its attributes and explore whether its objectives were being met. Methods we utilized a mixed method descriptive study design to evaluate the COVID-19 surveillance system in the New Juaben South Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana. Desk review and key informant interviews were carried out from 1 st February to 31 st March 2021 to measure nine surveillance system attributes as an approximation of its performance using the CDC’s 2013 updated surveillance system guidelines. Results while the COVID-19 surveillance system in New Juaben South (NJS) was highly representative of its population, it was rated ‘moderate’ for its stability, flexibility, sensitivity and acceptability. The system was however characterized by a low performance on data quality, simplicity, timeliness and predictive value positive. The sensitivity and predictive value positive (PVP) of the system were 55.6% and 31.3% respectfully. Conclusion while the surveillance system is only partially meeting its objectives, it is useful in the COVID-19 response in New Juaben South Municipality. System performance could improve with stigma reduction especially among health care workers, timely testing and simplification of surveillance forms and software.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, pandemic, outbreak, Ghana, surveillance system evaluation, 【초록키워드】 Health care, health care workers, Data quality, Predictive value, sensitivity, Region, stability, Timeliness, Measures, Surveillance, acceptability, implementation, death, Study design, flexibility, Predictive, reduction, among others, simplicity, South, positive, municipality, MONITOR, approximation, attribute, System, IMPROVE, Result, detect, evaluate, carried, form, nine, characterized, New, Desk, 【제목키워드】 cross-sectional, Surveillance, South, municipality, New,