Second Wave: Ghana sees surge in Covid-19 cases among children
Second Wave: Ghana sees surge in Covid-19 cases among children
As Ghana sees an upsurge in novel coronavirus cases, babies and children have become more susceptible to the new variant which has led about ten children testing positive for the virus.
Report indicates that the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in the Ashanti Region is currently recording an upsurge of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases among children.
In the last 10 days, nine children in the facility have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
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While the youngest among them is an 11-day-old baby, the oldest is 14 years.
Head of the Child Health Directorate, Professor Sampson Antwi, said the situation was having a toll on the facility as management struggles to access space for children diagnosed with Covid-19 and other cases.
“We are having a huge surge in Covid positive cases and the disease initially, children were said to be spared. We had 14 the whole of last year but this year, just the spate of 10-days, we got 9 positive cases,” he said.
The hospital is the only paediatric referral facility in the northern sector of the country.
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Management explained that the hospital is overstretched and in dire need of space.
“The Covid strain that we are having now is really affecting children. At the moment the wards are already full, so if the situation persists, we don’t know what we are going to do,” Prof Antwi bemoaned.
Prof Antwi regretted that the facility could no longer admit cases and decried how the ailment was affecting them.
“We are not in the position even to bring new cases. I don’t mean Covid. Anybody who is sick when you come here, we will just triage you infront [of the hospital] probably in an ambulance that you came in with.
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“If there is something that we need to do for you, we can do to stabilize you and send you back because our wards are full,” he added.
According to him, there were ongoing talks with the Regional Health Directorate to create a treatment center for children with Covid-19.
“We are exploring the possibility of getting a treatment centre for children [with Covid]. We are in talks with the Medical Director. They have actually had discussions with the Regional Health Directorate to see if they can create space for children who are stable; Covid positives who are stable so that we can move some of them there,” he stressed.
Medical Director of the Hospital, Prof Baafuor Kofi Opoku, revealed that out of 504 samples taken, 251, representing 49.8 per cent returned positive.
The figures were recorded between last year and January 26, 2021.
Meanwhile, management has denied allegations of neglect and lapses in its Covid-19 management.
Some caregivers at the Child Health Directorate have accused management of putting their lives at risk as suspected Covid-19 cases are managed alongside other patients.
But at the press briefing to respond to allegations, management denied the allegations.
Source: www.spotonnews.net
