71 New COVID-19 cases hit New Juaben South

Seventy-one new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the New Juaben South Municipality of the Eastern Region this year.

This brings the number of COVID-19 cases in the municipality to 484 with 18 deaths.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Koforidua, the Municipal Health Director, Dr Edmund Ekow Kaitoo, said the new cases covered the first 26 days of January.

Patients quarantined at home

Dr Kaitoo said because there was no isolation centre in the municipality, the patients had been advised to quarantine at home, where they were receiving treatment.

According to him, members of the Municipal COVID-19 Emergency Response Team of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) had been visiting the patients at home to offer them the necessary support.

Dr Kaitoo, who indicated that the team had started contact tracing for all those who in one way or another might have interacted with the patients, said the municipality was suspecting a second wave of the pandemic just like other countries such as the UK, Brazil and South Africa.

Adhere to safety protocols

The municipal health director, therefore, advised the inhabitants of the area to strictly adhere to the safety protocols of COVID-19 and other precautionary measures.

"If we are to undertake mass testing, the figure will rise because about 80 per cent of the people you meet on the streets and in markets are not wearing face masks and also not practising social distancing," Dr Kaitoo stated.

"COVID-19 is real, so don't downplay it, take the safety protocols very seriously to protect yourself from infection," he urged residents of the area.