90% of minister's ‘inner staff’ tested positive for coronavirus – Education ministry PRO clarifies

The Education Ministry has moved to the sector minister’s defence about a report that 90% of staff at the Ministry tested positive for COVID-19.

According to Public Relations Office of the Ministry, it is majority of the inner staff of the Ministry – staff that work closely with the Minister – that have tested positive for coronavirus.

“We the inner staff members are about 50. And it is only part of this number that tested positive for the virus. But we are all asymptomatic and we went into isolation immediately we got our results,” Deputy PRO, Kwaku Obeng-Fosu told GhanaWeb in a phone interview on Thursday, July 9, 2020.

He said the entire staff of the Ministry are more than 300 in number.

The Minister of Education had said on Peace FM Thursday morning that over 90 per cent of his staff have tested positive to the coronavirus.

He told Kwame Sefa Kayi in an interview, Thursday, monitored by GhanaWeb, that mass testing was conducted at the ministry when it was made known that he had been infected with the virus.

He added, results from the testing showed that almost all staff of the ministry had contracted the virus with the majority of them being asymptomatic.

“After my second result came out as positive, testing was conducted on all staff at the ministry and the results showed that out of every 50 persons, about 45 had contracted the virus. Most of them are asymptomatic so they are isolating at home,” the minister disclosed.

But reacting to this, Mr Obeng-Fosu stated that the Minister was referring to his close staff members and not the entire staff of the Education Ministry.

“There is currently mass testing ongoing at the Ministry. It has not been completed, so the Minister cannot be referring to the entire staff of the ministry,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Education Minister who, recently came down with the virus, says he is now hale and hearty after two weeks’ admission at the University of Ghana Medical Centre.