The government, following the pressure mounted on it to close down schools by parents, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Minority in Parliament, due to recorded cases of Covid-19 in some schools after reopening, has given some indications on what will compel it to close down schools.
Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Eko Sii Sen afternoon show, noted that the government will only close down a school when more than 15 per cent of students in a school contract the virus.
With at least nine Senior High Schools recording Covid-19 in three regions, some parents are demanding that their wards be sent home to insulate them against the fatal Covid-19.
The Accra Girls Senior High School and Nsein Senior High School alone have reported at least 63 cases, sparking fears that the students may not be safe.
“If you have 500 students in the school if you get 35 that amounts to 7% of the number. We either make them go home or find a way to deal with them separately.
“We as a government, there are two things that will make us consider a particular school to either make them go home, unblock to write [exams] from home or deal with them separately.
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“The allowed percentage is 7%. If you have 14 or 15 % of the school population, it is alarming. And the second one which is even the most alarming category is when morbidity is more than half the number you have. If half of your cases are sick, it means there might be many out there that you’ve not picked,” he said.