The Ashanti Regional Director of Ghana Health Service, Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang, has revealed that the recorded number of deaths from COVID-19 virus are those not vaccinated.
According to him, the Ashanti Region particularly has not recorded deaths of individuals already vaccinated.
Addressing the media in Kumasi, Dr Tenkorang further explained that persons who flout safety guidelines and are not vaccinated are prone to being infected and subsequently dying.
“Greater Accra is even worse. One thing is that, there’s something that we all need to understand… COVID kills. A lot of people, because they’re not seeing the deaths in their homes, they think that the COVID can’t kill. The situation in hospitals is quite different from what those in the public are saying. When you come to our hospital, we get cases of COVID all the time and unfortunately we lose some of them. Those we’ve lost are those that have not been vaccinated.
“If you’re not vaccinated, [and] you don’t adhere to the protocols and you get COVID-19, it can kill you. As at the second wave, our death was 299 or 296, now we’ve shot up to 394. It means that COVID kills and it kills not only in Ashanti but also in all the other places”.
Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang
Resume hand hygiene protocol
Dr Tenkorang further reemphasized the need for the use of the hand hygiene protocol, a phenomenon, he revealed, has been neglected.
“When we started the vaccination, we told you what the vaccine can do, the vaccine cannot prevent infection. The fact that you’ve been vaccinated does not mean you won’t get COVID. But your likely from dying from COVID is very minimal and… it has come out clearly from the third wave that all those we’ve lost have not been vaccinated. Though we’ve had people who have been infected, they didn’t die. But what will prevent you from getting the infection is the adherence to the protocols.
“The hand hygiene protocol, apart from the fact that it will prevent COVID, will also prevent you from getting so many infections. If there was one strategy that can help us to prevent those infections, then it’s the enhanced hand hygiene protocol. Unfortunately, we’ve discarded that one because we don’t see the veronica buckets”.
Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang
Ashanti Regional cases of COVID-19
Meanwhile, the number of active cases in Kumasi 818 cases, 798 are being managed, with 20 on admission in various treatment centers.
The Ashanti Region has undergone three waves since the entrance of the pandemic. That notwithstanding, experts reveal that the number of cases are receding compared to weeks earlier.
The hotspot in the Region currently remain at Kumasi metro, Oforikrom municipal, Asokwa municipal and Kwadaso municipal. That notwithstanding, the region is recording cases of the virus in virtually all the districts.
So far, the region has 34 active cases in the schools. The affected schools are 16 out of which there are some 11 basic schools, 4 senior high schools and 1 tertiary institution.
The region has since August 13 commenced vaccination of its residents since the arrival and receipt of its batch of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines. Some 11, 000 persons have received their shots as at August 15.
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