The Emergency Epidemic Response Committee of the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly on Wednesday, 18 March, 2020, had a crunch meeting in compliance with government’s emergency mechanisms to combat the global deadly coronavirus disease in the country. The Heads of various departments in the municipality briefed the committee on the level of preparedness and specific plans put in place to enhance public safety.
The Sagnarigu Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service confirmed to thecustodianghonline.com that, three health facilities have been picked in the municipality for suspected cases of the COVID-19 to be referred there. He mentioned the St Lucy hospital, Kamina hospital and the Mile 9 ABF hospital.
Mr. George Abraham noted these facilities have been equipped with Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to safeguard both health workers and patients. He said blood samples of any suspected case will be taken at these facilities through to the region and Accra for testing and further analysis to be done.
He said there is an intensive public health education ongoing at the various communities to create public awareness on the dangers and the mode of transmission. “So that is why we are here to plan and intensify so at the end of today, we would step up the health promotion to the communities so that more lives will be protected”, he stressed.
For her part, the Municipal Chief Executive who doubles as Chairperson for the Emergency Epidemic Response Committee said she was impressed with the adequate preparedness of all departments towards the fight against the global pandemic disease. Hajia Mariam Iddrisu disclosed that proper hand washing among other safety measures have been instituted as part efforts to control the spread of the virus in the country, adding more hand sanitizers are being procured for further distribution to departments and agencies.
She stated that the three hospitals selected in the area are adequately resourced and the health workers given capacity building training by the Regional Health Directorate to discharge their duties anytime the COVID-19 virus is recorded in the area. She emphasized personal protective clothes and equipment have been provided to the facilities to enable their fight against the disease.
Enforcement of Social Gathering ban
The MCE said the assembly is enforcing the suspension of all social gatherings in the Sagnarigu municipality as announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Addo.
Therefore, letters will be written to the traditional leaders and faith base organizations to ensure their subordinates adhere to the directive.
She observed that sometimes, people fail to obey directives due to lack of enforcement, so therefore, “We want to follow up with these letters to the Paramount Chiefs within the Sagnarigu Municipality to ensure other community chiefs and religious leaders abide by this directive for us to see how Allah will protect us from contracting the disease or recording any case.”
The Tamale Teaching Hospital emergency treatment centre that was constructed by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for referrals of Ebola cases few years back has been identified as the facility to contain cases of the pandemic coronavirus if it comes up in the north. The 20 bed facility was developed in line with the standards of the World Health Organization.
