Northern Region: Three-month-old baby dies of COVID-19

A three-month-old baby has died of COVID-19 in the Northern Region, bringing the death toll in the region to three.

The baby was referred from the Savelugu Hospital to the Northern Regional Hospital in Tamale but died shortly afterwards.

The two others are an 80-year old lady who died in May and a 24-year-old lady who died last week.

The Northern Regional Health Director, Dr John Eleazer, in a radio interview with Accra-based Citi FM said the region has a total case count of 52.

According to him, 32 persons have recovered from the disease, with 17 active cases being managed at home.

National case count

As at Tuesday, June 16, Ghana's total case count stood at 12,193 with 4,326 recoveries and 58 deaths.

The total number of active cases was 7,809.

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Convalescent plasma treatment

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on Monday, June 15, approved the use of convalescent plasma intervention for the treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Convalescent plasma (CP) is the term used for plasma that is removed from the blood of a person who has recovered from a disease, then transfused into a patient still battling it.

Researchers hope that CP can be given to people with severe COVID-19 to boost their ability to fight the virus. It also might help keep people who are moderately ill from becoming more ill and experiencing COVID-19 complications.

Life saving drug

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that a cheap and widely available drug called dexamethasone can help save the lives of patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19.

According to the report, the low-dose steroid treatment is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus as it cuts the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators, while it cuts deaths by a fifth for those on oxygen.

It said the drug was part of the world's biggest trial testing existing treatments to see if they also work for coronavirus.