Covid-19: GES will increase surveillance and contact tracing in schools



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The Ghana Education Service has said it will increase surveillance in schools across the country, step up contact tracing and take necessary action, where necessary, in the fight against Covid-19.

This, according to the service, has become necessary as it has emerged that some school principals refuse to obey Covid-19 guidelines.

“If we have to close the school, we will close the school to ensure the safety of the learners.”

Talk on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Friday, a parent, Eyram, expressed shock at the way some school authorities are handling cases of Covid-19 among students.

According to her, their 13-year-old boy JHS 2 tested positive for covid-19 after schools reopened and school officials, after hearing the news, asked her to hide it.

“To our surprise, they said they didn’t want to cause panic and therefore we should try to keep the information to ourselves,” she said.

Eyram is overwhelmed as no authority had called to follow her son and the possibility that a carrier could currently spread the virus.

Ministry of Education Inspector General of Schools Dr Hilda Ampadu, responding to this claim, said keeping her status a secret was not the best for school authorities.

“We trained them on [how to handle such occurrences] when we got the zoom call before reopening. “

She observed that some schools may have requested that health workers be available in the school “but when you do the inspection you realize that this person [health worker] does not exist, it happens everywhere.

She noted, however, that while some will comply, others risk violating protocols “so that’s where monitoring and evaluation comes in.”

Dr Ampadu stressed that the reported school will need to be closed if the allegation is confirmed as it clearly departs from GES protocols for Covid-19.

Meanwhile, health officials on Thursday confirmed at least 42 positive cases of Covid-19 at a private school in Akosombo in the eastern region, and another in Akyem Oda.

However, the Volta River Authority Health Services Human Resources Director assured that the students are well looked after and are doing well.

“We advised the students to make them feel more at home, especially when they realized that they had no signs or symptoms.”

According to him, it is the students who encourage some parents who were initially worried about the evolution.

“It got to the point that even the students themselves were comforting their parents because of the kind of treatment we are giving them and so initially yes the parents were a little worried but now it’s better.

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