COVID-19: 6 children, 86 hospital staff test positive in Hohoe

SourceGNA

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Six children, aged between five and 12 years have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Hohoe Municipality.

Five of the children were treated and discharged while a six-year-old, is currently responding to treatment.

Between January and August this year, 86 staff of the Hohoe Municipal Hospital also tested positive for the disease.

A monthly breakdown of statistics on the coronavirus in the Municipality revealed that 2,458 samples were tested from January to August 2021.

6 children, 86 hospital staff test positive for Covid-19 in Hohoe

Out of the samples, 459 tested positive, 34 active cases while four people succumbed to the virus.

Hohoe Municipal Disease Control Officer, Philip Nani-Tome, said during a Public Health Emergency Management Committee meeting that people in the Municipality no longer wear face masks.

He said, “social distancing is not being adhered to, hand washing equipment no longer in use, government facilities no longer observing protocols and the media being quiet on education.”

Mr Nani-Tome recommended that the Hohoe Municipal Assembly should enforce its by-laws on the adherence to coronavirus protocols.

He also appealed for financial support to purchase fuel to carry out vigorous contact tracing and health promotion.

The Officer revealed that the Municipality had not received the second vaccine for people who took the first jabs of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines, adding that most people are unwilling to be vaccinated.

He said the Municipality needed more Personal Protective Equipment for health workers.

The officer urged churches to adhere to the stipulated two-hour service duration and ensure adherence to the protocols.

Mr Nani-Tome said challenges faced with managing Covid-19 cases include; no means of transport to convey items to treatment Centres, non-reimbursement of expenditure incurred by the hospital, which is spending hugely on the management of the pandemic, no fridge to store medication and no means of carrying out effective home management.

The Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive, Andrews Teddy Ofori, said the Municipality would provide a motorbike to support the management of cases in the Municipality.

He urged the Municipal Security Committee to meet and deliberate on ways to ensure adherence to safety protocols.

The Commander of Wli Afegame Border Post, Superintendent Odoi Jeffery Nii Laryea, revealed that the border remains closed to people except for goods.

He said a joint security team is in place to check unapproved routes leading to Togo.