President of Volta Regional House of Chiefs – Togbe Tepre Hoho IV
The Volta Regional House of Chiefs (VRHC) is alarmed at the increasing rate of Covid-19 infections in the region.
To this end, it has issued an alert to its members and residents in the region over the rising cases of infections.
The alert was contained in a circular issued by the Registrar of the House, Harry Attipoe on the orders of the President of the House, Togbe Tepre Hodo IV.
The statement urged Chiefs and other traditional authorities to be on high alert and ensure strict compliance with all safety protocols of Covid-19 in their respective jurisdictions.
Portions of the letter read as follows, “The Volta Region has reportedly become a hotspot for the spread of the delta variant of the Covid pandemic.”
“The Volta Region House of Chiefs wishes to appeal to all chiefs and leaders of their communities, to strictly and vigorously ensure and enforce the compliance with the protocols of social distancing, wearing of masks and use of sanitisers and adherence to directives of the President on funerals and social gatherings.”
This caution comes days after the Volta Region was declared an emerging hotspot of the deadly pandemic by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
The Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said the development which is synonymous with other parts of the country is a testament that the country may be in a third wave that is fueled by the Delta variant.
As of August 3, the Volta Regions’ active cases had risen from 16 a month ago to about 532 cases with Ho and Kpando topping the number of cases in that order.
Most of the cases were from schools; tertiary and second cycle institutions and workplaces.
The staff of Ho Technical University are on break; leaving skeletal staff to hold the fort to curb infections and allow for disinfection.
The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) as of a week ago has had over 100 cases among students and staff. As a testing centre and a key stakeholder in COVID-19 management, the University made arrangements for quarantine, testing and isolation of peculiar cases. Contact tracing and testing were intensified to curb spread among the over 5000 campus population and the residents of the Ho municipality at large.
Other schools that have recorded cases in the region include Holy Spirit Teacher Training School, Mawoko Girls SHS, Bishop Herman College and several basic schools. Some hospital wards in Ho were also closed temporarily to allow for testing, quarantine and disinfection.
Regional Breakdown
As of August 3, 2021, 12 out of the 18 municipalities and districts in the region had active cases. The total number of deaths since the outbreak is 36. Ho, which is the hottest spot, was leading with 319 active cases, Kpando -75, Hohoe – 45, Central Tongu – 16 and Agotime-Ziope -14. The rest were Akatsi South -12, Ketu South -7, South Tongu – 5 and Ketu North – 4.
Adaklu, South Dayi and North Dayi had a case each. The six districts without active cases at the time were North Tongu, Keta, Ho West, Afadzato South, Akatsi North and Anloga.
At the national level cases rose from about 1,000 active cases about two months ago to over 6,922 active cases with over 880 total deaths as of August 6, 2021.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)