Coronavirus: No new cases recorded in Upper East

Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister, says the Region has not recorded any new cases of COVID-19 as of May 6, 2021.

“We are doing pretty well in Upper East Region with regard to COVID-19 cases. As of May 6, 2021, the total number of cases was 1319, zero admissions, 44 deaths, 1274 discharges, one is managed at home, one active case, and zero for new cases and death.”

The Minister disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga after courtesy calls on Paramount Chiefs in the Region to introduce himself as the newly appointed Minister for the Region.

He said the government paid much attention to the management of the virus, adding “we in the Upper East Region are following suit; we are educating the people and this is the result we have.”

Mr Yakubu said education on the prevention of the spread of the virus would continue and urged the people to adhere strictly to the COVID-19 protocols.

The Minister appealed to stakeholders, especially traditional rulers across the Region to collaborate and lobby for more health staff to cater for the needs of the growing population.

“We need to collaborate to get health staff into our hospitals to cater for our health needs instead of moving from the region to other regions to seek better health care services,” he said.

The appeal came on the backdrop of the Region’s inability to attract critical health staff over the years, especially doctors to handle medical and surgical cases at various health facilities across the Region.

The GNA gathered that the Doctor to population ratio in the Region was one doctor serving over 24,000 people and midwife to women population stood at one midwife to 511 expectant mothers.

The Minister, who indicated his passion to develop the Region, reiterated the call by stakeholders over the years to attract health staff to the Region for quality health care delivery.

He said the Region was endowed with human and natural resources, saying “We are not able to use these human and natural resources to develop our Region. We need to bridge the political gap and try to see ourselves as one people with a common destiny.”

Mr Yakubu, who is a former Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, also called for the support of Chiefs in the Region to propel development.

Dr Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service noted that there were 45 Medical Doctors and 505 Midwives, which was inadequate to cater for the needs of residents across the Region.

“In this Region, the acute shortage of critical human resources such as Medical Doctors, Specialist Doctors, Physician Assistants of all categories, Midwives, Laboratory Scientists, Pharmacists and many more is not good,” the Director said at a review meeting.