THE Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has announced that 178 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed, with eight recoveries recorded in Junior High Schools (JHSs) and Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country.
A statement read on his behalf by his deputy, Bernard Okoe-Boye in parliament said
“All the confirmed cases are in good shape with either no symptoms or in a mild state. With over one million students, teachers and non-teachers involved in the reopening of schools, the percentage of infection stands at 0.0178”.
According to the minister, the 0.0178 rate requires the adherence to the government protocols and not closure of schools.
“There is absolutely no reason to close schools because of recorded Covid-19 cases.”
“All the places you would send a child to could be harbouring the virus as well. Let’s adhere to the protocols and the guidelines for isolation, quarantine, contact tracing, testing and treatment and by the grace of the Almighty, this pandemic shall pass sooner than later.”
He also posited that the Akufo-Addo administration had demonstrated good leadership and exhibited commitment through the expenditure on COVID-19 related activities and cases.
“Not to mention the tax exemptions, insurance for health workers and the 50% of basic salary for health workers who manage confirmed Covid-19 cases in the line of duty, hence the need to take the protocols seriously.”
“We supplied reusable masks to all students because we knew that there could be some students who would be asymptomatic and that wearing the masks would allow them to recover with minimal chance of passing it on to others,”
The Health Minister also explained that
“It was not the wish of the government for cases to be recorded in SHSs, but rather the awareness that the novel coronavirus could be identified anywhere in the country that informed the provision of Veronica buckets, hundreds of thousands of sanitizers and other tools to the schools in preparation for reopening”.
“Again an understanding of public health, disease epidemiology and health management would reveal that with Ghana’s positivity rate standing at 7% based on the tests we have done so far, on the average, seven people are likely to pick as positive cases for every 100 people that you test in Ghana, be they at the Makola Market , Teshie Landing Beach, Jamestown, Walewale or here in Parliament. When you hear that a Covid-19 case has been confirmed at Multimedia, it doesn’t mean there is no case at their sister media houses.”
Agyeman-Manu finally gave all SHS WASSCE candidates the President’s good luck message as they commenced their exams yesterday.
