The Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Health Service have 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 have been directed not to allow anyone to visit the premises nor allow anyone to go out for the next two weeks.
This directive comes after 135 students tested positive for the new strain of COVID-19 on campus.
Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Kwesi Opoku Amankwa, has asked parents not to panic, assuring that measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of the students.
“I want to assure the entire country, especially for parents who have their wards in Achimota that every measure has been taken to ensure that we contain the spread of the virus.”
The Director of Public Health at GHS, Dr. Franklin Asiedu Bekoe, in a Joy News interview also said day students of the school are supposed to stay at home for the next two weeks.
“We are not going to allow any visitation in the school for the next two weeks. The day students are going to be kept at home for the next two weeks, while those who are positive [for COVID-19] are going to be kept in isolation,” he said.
The GHS confirmed the detection of the highly contagious variant of Coronavirus – Delta, at the Achimota School, on Sunday, July 4, 2021.
According to GHS, three students of the school presented influenza-like symptoms at the school’s sickbay between June 14 and 16, 2021.
They were tested in line with laid down protocols, and all three results turned out positive.
They subsequently isolated, and all contacts were placed under mandatory quarantine on campus.
Meanwhile, initial calls for the closure of the school were rejected.
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.”
