GHS announces new protocols for discharging coronavirus patients

The Ghana Health Service has announced new protocols for testing, treatment and discharge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

According to the GHS, cases which have been tested and are asymptomatic would be discharged after 14 days as usual.

But the difference would be that the 14-days quarantine period would be counted from when the samples of the suspected case were taken and not after the results come out, as was done before.

Cases that are symptomatic will be sent home 14 days after no symptoms are shown even without negative tests.

Speaking at a Ministry of Information press conference Thursday Director-General for the GHS Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said: “we as a service, we’ve met all our stakeholders, directors, scientists consulted and these were the new protocols that we had agreed to.

“That for patients who are asymptomatic, if yore admitted to any of our isolation centres Fourteen days after you are initially positive, the initial positive is not when you receive your result, its the day your sample was taken because that is when you were positive, you will be discharged without a test.”

He further explained “for those who are symptomatic, you will do fourteen days after discharge and then after testing positive, if you are without symptoms you are discharged without a test. Because you don’t post any threat, you will now do your negative test at home, then you will come for review.”