2,323 students from a total of 363 schools have tested positive for COVID-19 since the resumption of schools in January 2021.
This was disclosed by the Director of Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye at a press briefing on Wednesday, July 14, 2021.
Breaking down the figures, Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said there are currently 166 active cases among students from Ahafo, Ashanti, Greater Accra and Eastern Regions.
“The North East Region is the only region with no cases recorded in schools,” he added.
These statistics come a week after the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Health Service partially locked down the Achimota School in the Greater Accra Region following the detection of the COVID-19 Delta strain in the school.
The school authorities were directed not to allow anyone to visit the premises nor allow anyone to go out for the next two weeks.
This directive was issued after 135 students tested positive for the new strain of COVID-19 on campus.
Giving updates on the current situation in the school, Mr. Kuma-Aboagye said “a total of 1,173 students and staff had their samples taken”.
He said 195 students of the school had tested positive out of the 1,156 results available.
The total recoveries stand at 120, bringing the current active cases to 75.
Calls for the closure of the Achimota school were earlier rejected, following the detection of the Delta strain in schools.
For instance, the Executive Secretary of Education think tank, Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, said the situation didn’t require the closure of the school.
“There are protocols that are used in closing schools…I think we are not at the level of closure of schools. So I think that the existing protocols, i.e. testing and isolation and the rest, should be fine. I don’t think this is a cause for panic. We only need to go back to the basics and do what we were doing right.”
