The Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the Upper East Region says the high infection rate among health professionals at the Regional hospital has the potential to interrupt routine service delivery.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga, on the impact of the infection rate of staff of the Regional hospital on service delivery, Mr Zakariah Yakubu, the Head of Administration at the facility disclosed that a total of eight staff from the hospital were infected.
He said before the results of staff that came in contact with confirmed patients were released, they were under self-quarantine for two weeks, Mr Yakubu said patient attendance to the hospital was generally low, “Work will continue as normal with more precaution. We have started mass testing for staff,” he added.
According to a current COVID-19 situation report from the GHS in the Region, seven persons turned out positive out of 168 samples that were tested after the last update, representing 4.2 percent.
Six people out of the seven new cases are contacts of a previously confirmed case while one was from routine surveillance which puts the total case count for the Region at 26, with 2 deaths.
The report indicated that the second death in the Region was recorded in the Bawku Municipality on April 26, 2020, the same day a sample from the patient was taken for laboratory investigation, adding that the deceased had a co-morbid condition.
Five Districts, namely the Bolgatanga, Bawku, Kassena-Nankana Municipalities, the Bawku West and Pusiga Districts have recorded cases of the virus, “Thirteen (13) cases are currently on admission. They are all stable and responding to treatment. Six of the seven cases are being prepared for admission,” the report said.
