UE COVID-19 CASE IS CONTAINED & CLINICALLY STABLE – HON. TANGOBA 5th APRIL, 2020

The Upper East Region’s first positive Corona Virus [COVID-19] case, a young pregnant woman in her thirties, has been formally put into quarantine at a holding facility within the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital and is being given the requisite health care. This follows reports in the traditional media and social media platforms over the last 48  hours that, the woman in question under the instructions of her husband and help from him, “escaped” from admission at the regional hospital.
 
Hon. Tangoba, Responding To Questions
But speaking at a press briefing at the Residency on Sunday April 5, 2020, Upper East Regional Minister Hon. Tangoba Abayage stated categorically that, “ the Patient is clinically stable and in good health as of today at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital – her sore throat and cough have subsided and she is able to eat without any discomfort or difficulty”. She also revealed that,  the health authorities and the regional COVID-19 Rapid Response Team, had identified some 11 close contacts of the patient who were being traced for observation, testing and other necessary actions as the case may be. The official public announcement of this positive case was done on Friday, 3rd April, 2020.

Responding to accusations by sections of the media in the region as well as from some members of the public that she delayed unduly before holding a press conference to speak to the issue, Madam Tangoba remarked that she would rather spend time to acquire adequate details from the technocrats about a case before speaking to the media, than to rush to the public with scanty unauthenticated information. She acknowledged the importance of the media in the fight against COVID-19 and said that, herself and her office would never undermine the media regardless of the perception in this instance.

The Regional Minister gave a background to how the COVID-19 case came about and disclosed that, a brief from the Regional Health Directorate indicated that a woman reported to the regional hospital on 28th March, 2020 and presented symptoms consistent with those of COVID-19 after some routine assessments at the facility. The brief added that, the woman was then flagged as a suspected case and her blood and other samples, subsequently sent to the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research [KCCR] which returned positive. Unfortunately by the time the results got into the hands of the authorities, the woman had been taken home by her husband and this caused some degree of fear within the region as people could only imagine the numbers that might have come into contact with the patient.

Hon. Tangoba disclosed that so far, a total of 28 suspected Coronavirus have been investigated in the Upper East Region with 27 of them turning out negative and one testing positive, the one regarding the woman as stated earlier. She added that of the 15 municipal and district assemblies in the region, 11 had so far recorded suspected cases while the remaining four comprising the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, Builsa South, Garu and Nabdam districts have not had any suspected cases to date. She said her region was well prepared to combat the virus as some 157 health personnel from all District Health Administrations and hospitals across the region had received training on some protocols relating to the virus, 23 staff of the regional hospital trained on surveillance and case management while a stand-by eight-member regional rapid response team is on-hand to give all the districts, the needed backing in any eventuality.
A Section of HoDs & Journalists at the briefing
The Regionla Minister also disclosed that regional hospital had been designated as the treatment centre for the management of confirmed cases while some adjoining facilities had also been put in readiness for any spill-over cases. She said the Regional Health Directorate had informed her of the pre-positioning of critical Personal Protection Equipment [PPEs] and other logistics in selceted zones for quick and easy depolyment to any district that was in need meanwhile, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Community Water and Sanitation Agency and NGOs among others, have donated assorted logistics to the region in recent weeks.


Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Winfred Ofosu who jointly briefed the media with the Regional Minister, hinted that discussions had climaxed with government and other liked-minded authorities to equip the Navrongo Health Research Centre with the appropriate Corona Virus test apparatus to render sample testing services for any suspected cases as the nearest facility to the region right now, was the KCCR in the Ashanti Region, about some 11 hours away.


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