55 Accra Girls SHS students test positive for COVID-19

Fifty-five (55) students of the Accra Girls Senior High School have tested positive for COVID-19, a joint statement by the Ghana Health Service and Ghana Education Service has announced.

The cases were recorded after 314 persons including students and staff of the school were tested. 259 persons, however, tested negative.

The statement noted that similarly, a few other schools have reported sporadic cases which have not experience a surge, but the schools were not mentioned.

There have been many calls by various interest groups on the government to close down schools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the student population, but the government has dismissed such calls.

Education Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has said the calls are untenable.

Speaking during an interview on Adom TV’s ‘Badwam’ programme on Monday, July 13, 2020, the Minister said he disagreed with the calls for SHSs to be closed down and the students sent home on the back of the reported cases.

“Those of us in leadership must listen to public concerns, and be guided by the evidence in making recommendations to the President.

“Even if my child were in school at present, I would not, with the evidence as it stands, recommend to the President that schools should be shut down”, he argued.

Dr Prempeh noted that considering that there are 721 senior high schools in the country, with a population of about 400,000 and 13 reported cases across 5 schools, the calls for the schools to be shut down were not tenable.