Akufo-Addo to reaffirm the school’s reopening after cabinet meeting on December 30

General news for Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-12-22

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is receiving reports from the COVID-19 Technical Working Group on limited reopening of schools and would make a firm decision on reopening schools in January 2021 after a cabinet meeting on December 30, 2020.

At a press conference in Accra on the COVID-19 updates on Tuesday, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that the COVID-19 Task Force would work through the Christmas period to brief the president and analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in students, during limited school reopenings in July, August, September and October this year.

In July, the government allowed seniors from tertiary education institutions to complete their semester courses and write their exit exams.

High school seniors also returned to complete their term courses and wrote the West African Certificate of Examination (WAEC), while high school seniors took the Basic Education Certificate Exam (BECE) in September. and in October, sophomore JHS and SHS students returned to school to complete their quarter courses.

During the period, some students and teachers contracted the coronavirus disease and were isolated, examined and treated.

It is in light that this member of the COVID-19 Working Group was briefing the president to inform the Government’s decision on the reopening of basic schools in January 2021.

The Information Minister said that a subcommittee on school reopening will be formed soon to plan and strategize the way forward.

That, he said, would ensure that the school environment does not become a haven for the spread of respiratory disease.

Responding to a question on whether Ghana is considering stopping flights from countries witnessing a second wave of infection, Oppong Nkrumah said that all options were being considered, but that at this time the country was implementing two levels of prevention strategies.

The first layer, he said, all disembarking travelers must have a negative PCR test result from the country of origin, which was carried out 72 hours before departure.

Furthermore, all disembarking passengers were supposed to undergo an antigen test at Kotoka International Airport and after the person tested negative they would be allowed entry, while those who tested positive they are isolated and treated.

Currently, Ghana has registered 54,043 positive COVID-19 cases, with 52,777 recoveries / discharges, representing a recovery rate of 97.7 percent, according to Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director General of the Health Service from Ghana.

As of Saturday, December 19, 2020, there were 933 active cases and 333 deaths with a mortality rate of 0.62 percent, which is well below the global rate of 2.25 percent.

Ghana has so far conducted 646,697 tests, representing 20,000 per million population and a positivity rate of 8.4 percent.

Dr. Kumah-Aboagye said that people with hypertension, diabetes and asthma were more prone to infections and had a higher risk of succumbing to the disease.

People between the ages of 20 and 49 were the most infected in the country.