The Ho Municipal Hospital has opened fully to the public after it was closed down temporarily.
The closure of the hospital last Thursday, May 21, 2020 followed the exposure of staff from two of its departments to the novel coronavirus.
The Accident and Emergency Unit and The Outpatient Department (OPD) although intended to open on Friday, May 22, 2020 opened fully on Saturday May 23, 2020 after a thorough disinfection of the entire facility.
The departments had been closed after a staff of the hospital and a police recruit tested positive for Covid-19 .
The Deputy Volta Regional Director of Health in charge of Public Health, Senanu Kwesi Djokoto, said the closure was an important exercise intended to protect both staff and the public.
Apart from that all persons who came into contact with the cases be it closely or remotely had been screened with 33 staff tested for Covid-19 and subsequently quarantined.
The staff included 16 health personnel from the Accident and Emergency Department and 17 from the OPD.
This brings the number of health personnel suspected to be exposed to Covid-19 and hence on quarantine in the Volta Regional capital alone to 75.
Forty-two of the quarantined staff are from the Ho Teaching Hospital where the staff has recently tested positive for Covid-19 and 33 for the Ho Municipal Hospital.
Meanwhile, the number of persons who are reported to have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Volta Region has reached 47.
The region began the previous week with 41 cases, which increased to 44 by the middle of the week.
The three cases according to updates from the Ghana Health Service Covid-19 portal, included one case from the Ketu South municipality and two cases in the Ho municipality.
Between May 20 and 21, 2020 three more cases were recorded in Ho to bring the number to 47.
These new cases include the two that led to the temporal closure of the Ho Municipal Hospital last week.
Dr. Djokoto says that, the situation in the region is still stable, the Public Health Emergency Management Committee and all health facilities and personnel are still alert and working hard to ensure early detection, treatment and containment.
He added that in as much as a lot of effort is being employed to curb infection in the region, the greater responsibility lied with the public to not renege on adhering to the Covid-19 preventive measures, but continuously abide by them.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)