As directed earlier by President Akufo – Addo on the gradual easing of Covid19 restrictions in the country, schools have already been reopened to final year tertiary students whereas those at the basic and secondary levels are expected to resume on 22nd and 29th of June respectively.
Despite the various measures being put in place to control the spread of Covid19 in schools, numerous concerns have been raised ever since the directive on the reopening of schools was made by the president.
The Central Regional Chairman of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Justice Arthur has cautioned that the reopening of schools for final year students could lead to an increase in Covid19 cases in the Central Region.
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According to him, the Central Region is noted for a significant number of secondary schools, and as a result, the resumption of final year students in the various schools could possibly shoot up cases in the region if the necessary protocols are not strictly adhered to.
“Students are coming in from all over the country; some might have been exposed so definitely cases in the Central Region might go up because they have a lot of secondary schools and students coming in and it depends on individuals to take precaution otherwise the cases will definitely go up”, he said.
In this regard, Dr. Arthur advocates an intensified public education on Covid19 in the country as he believes proper knowledge of the disease will make people take precautions seriously and take charge of their health.
“Covid19 is real and we have to intensify education with every means possible so that we will know that our health is in our hands. Ghana Health Service is doing its best and we expect the populace to also do their best not to overstretch the health system”, he said.
Dr. Arthur further appealed to government to equip the Central Region with a testing center to help speed up the testing processes for a better management of the disease.
According to him, “government has done a lot but can still do better and make all the resources needed available”. “If we can get a testing site in Central Region it would be better and so we are appealing to government to make Cape Coast Teaching Hospital a testing site so we can get our results on time to help in management of the disease”, he concluded.
Source: Lydia Sekyi-Acquah/ATLFMNEWS
