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13 final year SHS students in 4 schools test COVID-19 positive
Thirteen final year students in senior high schools in the country have tested positive for the global pandemic, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) few days after returning to school, the Ministry of Education has confirmed.
The cases were recorded in the Greater Accra and the Central Regions.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, the Deputy Minister of Education, in charge of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, confirmed that six students at the Accra Girls Senior High School tested positive. In addition, a teacher at the school together with his wife had also tested positive for the COVID-19.
Two other students from Odorgonor SHS equally tested positive for the disease in Accra.
In the Ashanti Region, three students at the Konongo Wesley SHS had tested positive for the COVID-19.
Meanwhile in the Central Region, the Mfantsipim School recorded two confirmed cases of the COVID-19, the Deputy Minister said, bringing the total number of students who have tested positive for the COVID-19 to 13.
According to the Deputy Minister, the students had been isolated and their parents had been informed to ensure it brings down the anxiety.
According to Dr Adutwum, 648 contacts tracing had been done and the people had been isolated, with a number of them tested by the Ghana Health Service.
He said counsellors had been provided at the Accra Girls Senior High School to support them psychologically.
“In the midst of all the anxiety, it is difficult for students to even learn, but counsellors are on sight now, looking at ways that they can help the students to recompose themselves and begin to take a look at the preparation that is ahead of them,” Dr Adutwum said.
“Everything possible is being done to make sure the safety of the children are protected,” he stated.
Meanwhile, a joint statement issued by the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said a team of 200 personnel, drawn from the two institutions, regional and district directorates of education had been spread all over the country and were closely monitoring the situation.
The statement signed by Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Director General of the GES and Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, Director-General, GHS, assured all health institutions to which senior high schools had been mapped with health facilities to ensure that any suspected cases were promptly dealt with in accordance with the laid-down protocols.
It noted that school heads and selected school staff had been trained, and would continue to receive further training and support on Covid-19 issues and management, adding that all schools had been provided with the necessary logistics needed to fight this pandemic, including Veronica buckets, sanitisers, face masks, tissue paper and the schools have been disinfected as well.
“If any student is affected, the parent will be notified and given the opportunity to visit,” it stated.
Source: Ghanaian Times
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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