The Regional Public Health Emergency Management Committee (RPHEMC) in the Bono Region, has asked the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to arrest school vehicle drivers for overloading and failure to observe COVID-19 protocols, to serve as a deterrent.
The RPHEMC during a meeting by members and other stakeholders to discuss the situational report of the COVID-19 outbreak and management in the region, cautioned private school owners against over-loading of school buses.
The Committee, decided to take steps to caution school authorities, particularly the private schools whose buses over-load the school children, to do the right thing regarding the acceptable number of persons per vehicle for the health and safety of the students.
This caution comes on the back of the possible infection of school children and how to prevent the spread of the pandemic in schools, which the Committee says although protocols have been put in place, it has observed that some of the school buses which load the children to school are seen having the younger students sitting on the laps of the elderly ones.
The Committee further appealed to the government to extend the provision of personal protective equipment to private schools due to the fact that, some parents and guardians do not provide nose masks for their children and wards.
In the quest to enable school children encourage their mates, the Committee also suggested the formation of COVID-19 ambassadors in various schools across the region.
The RPHEMC again suggested that, an “on a spot fine” could be introduced to assist in the enforcement of wearing of a nose mask adding that satellite markets should be re-introduced in the urban centres to ensure social distancing.
Speaking at the gathering, Dr John Ekow Otoo, the Deputy Bono Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service in-charge of public health said, although the COVID-19 vaccine was going to be introduced, compliance with safety directives and adherence to protocols was the best way in preventing the spread of the pandemic.
Also adding his voice, Mr James Ankamah, the Regional Student Health Educational Programme (SHEP) Coordinator and a member of the Committee announced that, efforts were being made for Senior High Schools’ students to be screened for COVID-19 to enable them to study in safe environments.
According to the Ghana health Service, five more people have died from COVID-19 in Ghana, taking the country’s death toll to 577.
Additionally, the GHS says the country’s active cases have surged again to 6,658 after a slight decline witnessed over the past few days, which brought the active cases to 6,567 as of Saturday, February 20, 2021.This follows the confirmation of 598 new cases of infections across the country.
However, 502 people have also recovered, bringing the total of clinical recoveries and discharges to 73,018.
The Ghana Health Service has also disclosed that, the active cases are being managed in treatment sites, isolation centres across the country, while some are under home management. Ghana has so far recorded a total of 80,253 cases of the virus since it confirmed its first two cases in March 2020.
