55 students and staff contract COVID at Accra Girls SHS
The Accra Girls Senior High School has become a hotbed for COVID-19 with an escalation of positive cases to 55.
The school recorded the first case on June 29, when six students tested positive. They were later taken to the Ga East Municipal Hospital for treatment on Saturday, July 4.
Barely a week later, a joint statement from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GHS) stated that as at July, 13 “a total of 314 persons (student and staff) from the school have been tested. Out of these, 55 have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 while 259 persons tested negative”.
Some police officers, and COVID-19 task force officials from the Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly, had to been deployed to the school to calm the situation.
Parents insisted on picking up their wards as the police barricaded the entrance to the school, following reports of agitations by the students on the school campus.
Authorities have indicated that a few other schools have reported sporadic cases which have not experienced a surge.
Authorites disclosed that measures are being implemented to prevent spread of COVID-19 in senior high schools across the country
These are the actions authorities outlined to have been taken so far:
• Identification and segregation of contact from other students
• Sample collection and laboratory testing of all contacts identified and suspected cases
• All confirmed cases have been transferred to designated national treatment and isolation centres for management
• Restriction of the number of students that attend dining at a particular time
• Enforcement of social distancing protocols, enhanced hand hygiene practices and the proper use of the facemask
• Disinfection of the entire school has been carried out
• Adequate PPEs have been provided to health staff stationed in the school
• Education on COVID-19 prevention and control has been intensified within the school
• Counselling and psychological support is being provided to the students
• The school has designated a quarantine and isolation centre
• Parents and guardians of affected student have been duly contacted
• Staff of the school have been reassured