After schools in Ghana started to record cases of the new Delta Variant, Health officials in the region say a total of 85 schools have recorded positive COVID-19 cases, with 365 school children and other staff infected.
Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Emmanuel Tenkorang, who revealed this attributes the trend to the disregard of COVID-19 safety protocols.
He stated that because the new strain of the virus is highly transmissible, strict adherence to COVID-19 preventive protocols, such as handwashing, wearing nose masks, and using hand sanitizer, is required.
Dr. Tenkorang indicated that the situation could be dire because most of the students are yet to be vaccinated.
“The Delta variant is more transmissible so for instance, if one person gets it in a school, it is likely that the person will transmit it and within a short time, everybody will be infected. When you are dealing with the Delta variant, it makes the number of cases go up rapidly, and if they are in an enclosed setting like the schools. This is the reason why it is important to adhere to the protocols and guidelines especially in the schools because we know that in the schools, most of the children were not covered by the vaccination exercise.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Tenkorang has cautioned health facilities in the region against charging persons who come for COVID-19 tests to stop the practice.
He stated that the government has explicitly instructed all public and private health facilities not to charge anybody who walk in for OVID-19 exams, with the exception of those who want the test as part of the process to travel outside the nation.
“It has come to the notice of the regional health directorate that some facilities are charging for COVID tests. The government has come out with a policy that the COVID test is free [to all] apart from those who are using it to travel outside the country. So whether it is a private hospital or a public hospital, the COVID test still remains free, if you charge, it is against the law,” he said.
