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COVID-19: Government reviews discharge policy
The government has reviewed its discharge policy on patients of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
With the policy, asymptomatic patients would be discharged in 10 days after showing no signs of the disease.
“For asymptomatic patients, 10 days after symptoms of onset, plus at least three days without symptoms, you are discharged without a test,” the Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye has announced at a press briefing in Accra yesterday.
The days for discharge of symptomatic patients would however remain 14 after two negative tests.
He indicated that, the review was done in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ghana’s clinical management guidelines on the disease.
In addition, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said, the revised policy was to allow the management of the country’s COVID-19 cases focus on newly infected patients and to decongest its holding centres.
“This is to allow us more time to give attention to those who are newly positive, and also create place in our facilities to be able to take care of more cases,” he said.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye used the platform to explain discharges, saying, discharged persons are those who are healthy, with no traces of virus in their blood and poses no risk to others.
During his turn, the Director of Public Health at the GHS, Dr Badu Sarkodie also provided details of the country’s cases of COVID-19, which showed that the cases had almost reached 13, 000.
He said that, as of June 16, the number of COVID-19 cases in Ghana was 12,929, resulting from 339 new cases from 36 districts in nine out of the 16 regions.
The 12,929 was a combination of 8,395 active cases and 4,468 recoveries and 66 deaths.
Meanwhile, 14 patients of the COVID-19 are critically ill, with four others on ventilators.
The regional breakdown comprised of 154 cases from 17 districts in the country’s regional capital, Accra, with 58 cases from two districts in the Western Region.
The Ashanti Region has recorded 41 new cases from two districts, while the Central Region’s new cases were 38, all from one district.
Meanwhile, the Eastern and Volta regions have 15 and 13 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases respectively, from a total of three districts in the two regions.
The remaining 21 cases are from five districts in three regions namely Bono East nine, Northern nine and the Savannah two.
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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