No COVID-19 at Odorgonno SHS – Headmaster

Authorities at the Odorgonno Senior High School (SHS) have refuted reports of students contracting coronavirus.

The headmaster of the school, Patrick Mensah, told theghanareport.com that no student had been diagnosed or isolated over COVID-19 at the school, located at Awoshie in the Ga Central Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.

Information was widely circulated on various platforms that said four students were under quarantine in relations to COVID-19, on Monday, June 22.

Final year and second-year students on the Gold Track resumed on Monday after almost four months when schools were shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Mensah confirmed that the four students had recorded high temperatures but had been re-integrated to join their colleagues to study after medical clearance.

Nurses from the Ga Central Hospital stationed at the school ruled out COVID-19 after medical examination pointed to the contrary.

“The nurses took their temperatures more than five times. As at 6 PM when they (nurses) were leaving, they assured us that temperatures were stable,” Mr Mensah stated. “It was the same on Tuesday, so they are in class now learning.”

Mr Mensah explained that one of the students had malaria and another, headache.

The student with malaria had started treatment before reporting to school and the one with headache given some medicine.

Mr Mensah explained that the students in question had traveled from different regions, and the stress involved in movements contributed to the abnormal temperature on the first test.

The four were part of over 1,000 students who reported on Monday out of an expected 1,650.

The headmaster indicated that the school was “following coronavirus protocols strictly” and the health of students remains a priority.

“They are our children,” he stressed, and assured parents that the students were safe on campus.

“Observation and supervision are stricter than what goes on in some homes,” he pointed out.

He revealed that they had taken delivery of government’s nose masks, hand sanitisers, soaps and Veronica Buckets to help the fight.

The school has an isolation centre separate from the sick bay. The school is also mapped to the Ga Central Hospital.

The head of the medical team, Alberta Koufie, who spoke to theghanareport.com, attributed the high temperatures recorded to stress as some students commuted from long distance to the school.

“The two (who were unwell) were from the Volta Region and they didn’t sleep (before the journey) because they wanted to come to school on time,” she noted.

“After 30 minutes I re-checked all their temperatures, and I realised it was normal,” she stressed. “It does not mean when you see someone with high temperature; then the person has COVID. It means you have to interact with the person to find out what is going on.”

Officials and the teachers went to the various dormitories after the development to educate the students. The students were updated on what happened to allay any fears.

The entire student body undergoes screening every day beside the checks at the main entrance to the school for those entering.

Two Veronica buckets are available for hand washing, and temperature readings are taken at the main entrance before entry. Details of everyone who steps on the premises of the school are recorded.

There was strict adherence to the mask-wearing policy when theghanareport.com visited the school.

Desks had been provided to take the details of students who were reporting before allocation to boarding houses as directed by the government.

Some students who spoke to theghanareport.com expressed mixed feelings about the measures to protect against the spread of the virus in the school.

“It’s not all that enough, but I will make sure I protect myself,” a second-year student said. She said her parents gave her two bottles of sanitiser and three nose masks before she left home.

Another student said he was not hundred percent sure of his safety but “we will take it like that. We will cope with it”.