Bono Region: 231 Health workers with COVID-19 recover

All 231 health workers in the Bono Region who contracted COVID-19 have recovered, the acting Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Amo Kodie, has disclosed.

According to him, the 231 health workers represented 53.6 per cent of the total of 426 cases so far recorded in the region and explained that all recovered health workers had returned to work.

Dr Kodie was speaking to the Daily Graphic after addressing the Annual Mini Congress of the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) at Abesim on the theme: "Combating COVID-19: The role of National Service Personnel."

As part of the congress, the association donated some COVID-19 safety and hygiene products to some senior high schools and the Electoral Commission (EC) to support the ongoing compilation of the new voters register in the Sunyani Municipality.

No death

Dr Kodie said the region had not registered any COVID-19 related death or recorded any severe case as most of the cases, including the health workers were managed at home.

He explained that the Sunyani Regional Hospital, the Wenchi Methodist Hospital and the Berekum Holy Family Hospital had been earmarked as isolation centres in the region.

According to him, the recovery rate in the region was almost 100 per cent, emphasising that only one of the victims was currently in isolation.

Dr Kodie explained that people with hypertension, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, over weight and other immune diseases were more vulnerable to COVID-19 and therefore cautioned such people to protect themselves from contracting the disease.

Accept posting

The Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mrs Justina Owusu Banahene, challenged the personnel to accept posting to rural communities and develop positive mindsets toward the development of the country by giving of their best at their various institutions.

She charged the personnel to add innovative ideas to the skills and knowledge they had acquired in their various institutions to support the progress of the country.

Impact on economy

For his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani East, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, said COVID-19 had negatively affected the global economy, explaining that there had been significant job losses as a result of the collapsing of businesses.

He said the government had taken proper action and rolled out various important programmes and policies to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic in the country and called on the public to support the government in the fight against the disease.

“Each Ghanaian including you and I have a responsibility to protect or stop the spread of the virus by observing the existing safety protocols,” Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh stated.

He said since the outbreak of COVID-19, the government had put in place several interventions to protect citizens and mentioned the establishment of the National COVID-19 Trust Fund, closure of borders, tracing and testing and the institution of lockdown in some parts of the country.

Stigmatisation

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh appealed to the public to stop stigmatising COVID-19 patients or persons who had recovered from the disease and challenged the service personnel to be ambassadors in their communities.

Welcoming the gathering, the National President of the association, Mr Owusu Afriye Osei, said they chose the theme in order to use the national service week celebration to assist in the fight against the spread of the disease.

He said the association decided that every district should donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the various district or community health facilities to help halt the spread of the virus.

“When the community is protected, the service personnel there will likewise be sheltered,” Mr Osei stated.