Following the number of coronavirus cases in the Bolgatanga Municipality, the Municipal Chief Executive in consultation with the other stakeholders has closed down the two main markets in the Municipality, as part of measures to enforce social distancing.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Upper East Region now stands at eight (8) with One (1) death.
Equal sex distribution: 4 females and 4 males, seven from the Bolgatanga Municipality and one from Bawku Municipal. The first four cases are clinically stable and responding to treatment at the treatment center at the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga.
Out of the 4 new cases, 2 are currently being prepared for admission, 1 was translocated to Accra for care whilst the fourth case, a known Diabetic and hypertensive died on April 8, 2020, a day after the specimen was taken. 3 of the 4 new cases were contacts of the first case but the fourth case form Bawku had no epidemiological link with any known cases.
The remaining 2 new cases are health care workers. Electronic data capturing for contact tracing and case mapping has been deployed according to the Ghana Health Directorate.
The MCE for Bolgatanga, Amiyuure Joseph Atura, indicated that the social distancing which plays a key role in preventing the spread of the virus is not going to be observed strictly in the Bolgatanga on market days since the market is patronised by the neighbors from Yelowongo in Burkina Faso.
He added that it was necessary to close down on market days for four markets. A resident of Bolgatanga Municipality Raphel Doe also gave his view on the closure of the Market on COVID-19 that, the Municipal Assembly needed to intensify their education and the provision of handwashing facilities in the Municipality.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Meteorological Agency has warned of a rise in cough, sneezing, catarrh and sore throat in the north, following a dust storm currently sweeping across the northern parts of the country.
Story filed by: Emmanuel Akayeti.
