COVID-19: 26 persons die, 770 others recover in Upper East Region
A total of 26 persons have died of COVID-19 in the Upper East Region out of 863 recorded cases between April 2020 and February 2021.
According to the Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service, 770 of the cases were successfully treated and discharged while 26 out of 67 active cases are currently at the treatment centre at the Bolgatanga regional hospital.
Speaking to Citi TV in Bolgatanga, Regional Director of health services, Dr. Emmanuel Dzotsi, said, even though his outfit was overwhelmed with treatment centres to manage the cases, non-adherence to COVID-19 protocols remain the major challenge accounting for the spike in the region.
Dr. Dzotsi warned that the situation could get worse if efforts are not made to ensure strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols especially at the market centres, schools and public transports.
“Currently as we speak, we have 67 active cases and 23 are in the treatment centre and because we don’t have the adequate number of treatment centres, we accept the homes of the respective confirmed cases and then, they do home isolations, and we ensure that they are on their treatment.”
“The major challenge that we have is the non-adherence to the COVID-19 preventive protocols. The rate at which the cases are increasing, we can only bring it down only if we adhere to the COVID protocols”.
“The other biggest challenge is the overcrowding situations in our markets, the market women sit too close to each other. The buyers also stand too close to each other. There is no social distancing among them. We are calling on the owners of the markets to re-design the markets to reduce the congestion. The congestion on our buses is also a major concern. We need to make sure that we don’t overload our buses and our tricycles (Cando’s and motor kings) and no transport operator should allow a passenger in a bus without nose mask”.
Dr. Dzotsi stated that most COVID-19 deaths in the region were as a result of late arrival to health facilities and admonished the populace to seek early health care.
He added that the region has two treatment centres thus the Bolga regional hospital and War memorial hospital in Navrongo while plans are underway to make every district hospital a treatment centre to complement the treatment of COVID-19 cases.
Dr. Dzotsi reiterated that the region has sufficient oxygen to support COVID-19 patients if the need arises.
