Teacher, spouse, six students test positive for Covid-19 at Accra Girls’ SHS

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A Covid-19 test conducted on a teacher of the Accra Girls’ Senior High School has returned positive, officials said, adding that a spouse has also been diagnosed of the virus.

The figure brings the number to eight after six other students of the school got infected.

Health officials disclosed this in a joint statement issued by the Ghana Education Service and Ghana Health Service.

“The Ghana Education Service (GES) received reports of suspected cases of COVID-19 from some second cycle institutions including Accra Girls Senior High school. The Ghana Health Service was subsequently notified of the situation. As at 6th July 2020, six (6) students, a teacher and spouse have been confirmed as positive for COVID-19 in Accra Girls Senior High School”, the release said.

GES and GHS have assured the general public and all parents that in accordance with the laid down protocols on the COVID-19 pandemic that have been issued to all schools, the necessary steps have been taken and the six confirmed students, the teacher and spouse have been taken to a treatment centre for further management and are currently doing well.

Other safety measures taken

All Contacts of confirmed cases have been identified and separated from non-contacts. Testing of all contacts of confirmed cases has started.

The school authorities with the support of the assembly are in the process of disinfecting the affected dormitories.

The school has put in measures to ensure strict adherence to social distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures.

Over 200 personnel deployed to monitor COVID-19 situation in SHSs

The government has deployed some 200 personnel including individuals from the Ghana Education (GES) Service and the Health Services (GHS) to monitor the COVID-19 situation in various Senior High Schools.

The GES and GHS in the statement said the personnel have been actively spread out across the country for the task to ensure that the schools do not become hotspots for the spread of the virus.

The statement also added that all schools had been matched to various nearby health facilities to ensure immediate attendance to any suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case.      

“A team of 200 personnel, drawn from the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, the Regional and District Directorates of Education are actively spread out all over the country and are monitoring the situation closely. Further, all health institutions to which senior high schools have been mapped with health facilities to ensure that any suspected cases are promptly dealt with in accordance with the laid down protocols,” the joint statement noted.

Students want to go home

Earlier, students of the Accra Girls SHS protested to put pressure on the management of the school to allow them to go home.

Students gathered on the school’s premises in the hope that their parents will come and take them home. They were demonstrating amidst fears that the virus was spreading amongst them.

The infected students were isolated in the school’s sickbay on Monday, June 29, 2020, together with some other students who also showed symptoms of COVID-19.

Health officials from the Ayawaso North Health directorate on Saturday, July 4, moved the students who tested positive to the Ga East Municipal Hospital for treatment.

The students, who gathered outside their classrooms, kept chanting: “We’ll go home.”

Parents react

Anxious parents also trooped to the school to try and take their wards home. Police officers were deployed to the school to prevent the agitated parents from entering the premises of the school.

Speaking to journalists, a parent said: “I heard the news last night, so, I rushed here to find out what was happening… I’m anxious and scared and, so, we need the school authorities to tell us something.”

According to some of the parents, no student was tested when schools resumed. They believe this is the cause of the current problem.

Final-year Junior and Senior High School students returned to school in June 2020 to prepare for their final examinations.

The schools were initially shut down in March because of the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Daily Mail GH