Coronavirus cases in Sissala East dangerous to communities - Dr Abdulai

Dr. Zakaria Abdulai, the Medical Superintendent for the Sissala East Municipal Hospital, has urged the residents to cooperate with health officials in fighting the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the Municipality.

He said that was necessary because the five asymptomatic COVID-19 victims in the Municipality posed a serious risk to vulnerable groups in the communities.

Dr. Abdulai said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Tumu concerning the seven Covid-19 cases recorded in the Municipality.

The Sissala East Municipality in the Upper West Region had recorded seven cases of the COVID-19 with five of the cases being asymptomatic.

"I have seen them, and none of them have shown signs and symptoms and this makes them asymptomatic, which suggests they are in the community living normal lives.

“This can be dangerous to vulnerable groups like people who have compromised lungs, the aged, asthmatic, TB patients and innocent persons can be infected without knowing," Dr. Abdulai explained.

The Medical Superintendent added that the isolation facility at Tumu could not withstand an outbreak as it did not have a single ventilator that could support someone with respiratory distress.

He appealed to benevolent individuals and organisations to support the health facility with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and thermometer guns among others to help protect the health staff against the deadly virus. Mr Alex Bapula the Sissala East Municipal Director of Health Services called for psychological support for the COVID-19 infected persons.

He praised the frontline health workers for their quick response and appealed to the authorities to make available all the resources needed for the front line staff to be courageous to carry out their work effectively.

Mr Bapula also appealed to the community members to report all strangers as well as natives who were returning to the communities from other parts of the country to the health authorities for the necessary action to be taken.