A 42-year-old man who was the first to test positive for Covid-19 in the Upper West Region has now recovered and is about to be integrated into the community.
Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, disclosed on Wednesday that the recovered patient has now tested negative for the virus twice, confirming that he was indeed free from the infection.
Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih announced this at a meeting with members of the Sissaala West Public Health Epidemic Committee.
The 42-year-old man tested positive on March, 27, 2020 in Ghana after travelling through the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Egypt.
Dr. Bin Salih said the number of persons in the region who have tested positive for the disease still remain eight, all of whom are being held in quarantine at Wa, except one who is at Nandom.
He said six of the confirmed cases are from Wa, one from the Nandom district and another one from the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa district.
He said apart from the coronavirus, the region was also battling Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) and stigmatisation.
According to him, the view that once someone contracts Covid-19 they are condemned to die has been major misconception that must be addressed..
Dr Bin Salih said several thousands of people have contracted the disease and have been treated and discharged
“Once somebody contracts it and is given medical attention, the person stands the chance of recovery and will be integrated back in the society. Once you begin to shun people who have the disease, those who show signs of the symptoms are likely not going to comeclose to heath facilities for them to be tested. Once they continue to live with us there is the tendency that the disease will spread,” he stated.
Sissala West District Director of Health Services, Cecelia Kakraba, expressed worry about a lack of personal protective equipment for frontline staff fighting the deadly disease.
“As I speak to u now, the whole district there is no single infra-red thermometer. The district hospital used to have one but it has also broken down.
“We don’t do triaging at the OPD level, we don’t have face or nose masks, neither do we have gloves…,” she lamented.
Touched by the revelation of the Sissala West District Director, the regional minister gave out his personal infra-red thermometer and a cash amount of GHS2,000 to the district.
He promised to add more when the region receives more donation from the government, corporate organisation and individuals.
“We have received some valuable items from a true son of the soil; who is the managing director of USSUYA Ghana Ltd. We have done the distributing of the items and your district has been taken care off. You statement of not having a single infrared thermometer will soon be a thing of the past,” the minister assured.