COVID-19 SHS students brought the virus from home – Nana B

The National Youth Organiser of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, says SHS students who have contracted the COVID-19 in schools brought the virus from their homes.

“It is important to note that the students who have tested positive for COVID-19 did not even contract the virus on their respective campuses. This is another strong point, that all of these cases, they brought it from their various homes,” he said while addressing party members at an event in Kumasi on Tuesday.

His comment comes in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases in senior high schools across the country.

A joint statement issued by the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) revealed fifty-five (55) students and staff at the Accra Girls’ Senior High School have tested positive for the virus.

The school is among several others to have recorded confirmed cases of COVID-19 just three weeks after the government reopened schools for final year students to write their exit examinations.

Parents thronged the school to take their children home after six students initially tested positive for COVID-19.

Since the school recorded its initial cases, there have been mounting pressure on the government to close down the schools again over fears of a possible outbreak of the disease among the students.

The opposition National Democratic Congress’ COVID-19 technical team on Monday called on the government to immediately shut down schools to prevent more students from contracting the coronavirus disease.

In a statement, the COVID-19 technical team stated that cases were spreading among students in various schools across the country and called on the government to value the lives of the students by reversing the decision to reopen schools.

“The lives of Ghanaian students, teachers, and non-teaching staff should be valued equally, and the government must take immediate steps to reverse its decision and to begin the process of returning students to their homes.

“This will necessarily, include mass testing of students to ascertain their COVID-19 status before they are released to their parents, to minimise the risk of exporting cases from campuses to communities.”

But the government maintains the students are better off staying in school to prepare for their final examination.