Life StyleNews

Over 2,000 health care workers have been infected with coronavirus – Ghana Health Service

Over 2,000 health care workers in the country have tested positive for coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak in March, the Ghana Health Service has confirmed.

Of those infected, six have died — five were engaged in active clinical practice, a health adviser for the office of the president said.

Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, could not specify exactly how 2,000-plus health care workers became infected but initially, he said, the country faced personal protective equipment shortages that made it difficult for workers to adequately protect themselves.

Since then, he said, the number of those infected has reduced significantly.

He added that he continues to work closely with the public and private health sector to ensure the necessary PPE is provided and has confirmed that proper infection prevention and control measures are routinely conducted at all hospitals.

Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo announced in an address to the nation that he would extend an incentive to medical professionals “due to the immense dedication and hard work being exhibited by our health care workers.

“Each frontline health care worker, he said, would receive an additional 50% allowance added to their basic salary for the next three months.

In June, the Ghanaian government began a phased approach to bring the country back to normalcy after a three-week lockdown and months of a strict public gathering ban.

But as religious institutions, schools and restaurants have gradually reopened, the number of confirmed cases continues to skyrocket.

More than 26,000 people have contracted the virus as of July. Of those, 139 are dead.”

The number of cases we currently have should not be translated to mean it is because of the directive to reopen our country,” the Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie, told CNN.

Some critics argue that the ease of restrictions came too soon, but Sarkodie insists that the livelihood of Ghanaians had to be taken into consideration when the decision was made to reopen the country.

Earlier this month, Akufo-Addo elected to self-isolate for 14 days after “at least one person within his close circle tested positive for Covid-19. ”

While the president tested negative, he took the measure out of an abundance of caution, the Information Ministry said in a statement.

We are optimistic that the interventions we have put in place will lead to the results we want.

Furthermore, Sarkodie revealed to CNN that a top medical research center in the country is in the process of working to develop a vaccine for the virus. He would not provide further details.

Meanwhile, all land, air and sea borders have been closed since March and will remain closed until further notice.

Ghana now ranks third on the African continent — behind South Africa and Nigeria — in the total number of cumulative cases, although the country’s death rate remains relatively low.

Source:Fiilafmonline/JoyNews 

 

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Close