Irate members of Efutu in the Cape Coast Metropolis on Thursday, took to the street to demonstrate against the decision by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to use a Senior High School in the community as an isolation centre for COVID-19 patients.
The community members, numbering about three hundred chanted war songs and blocked the main road leading to the secondary school and took the intervention of the Police to disperse them.
Similarly, some staff who lived on the campus of the St. Augustine’s College have also had a hint of the decision to use their School as another centre also expressed their displeasure, saying it would put them and their families who were residents on the school’s campus at risk.
A tutor at the school who spoke to the GNA on condition of anonymity questioned why the school was chosen when they were in school working and suggested that the best the authorities could do was to have chosen a day school where no teachers were on campus.
According to him, there were about 60 teachers with families numbering close to 300 residing on the campus of St. Augustine’s College and therefore using the school as an isolation centre would not only put them at risk but create fear and panic among neighbouring communities.
He, therefore, appealed to the GHS to reconsider the decision.
DSP Irene Oppong, Regional Police Public Relations Officer, told the media that top Police officials together with some high-level delegation in the Region were meeting with chiefs and opinion leaders in Efutu to find an amicable solution to address the issue.
The Central Regional Minister, Mr Kwamena Duncan, earlier this week held a meeting with the Regional COVID-19 Rapid Response Team and implored them to be ready to combat COVID-19 case in the Region.
As part of the preparedness, each district was tasked to designate a senior high school to serve as an isolation centre to manage suspected cases.
The Region on Wednesday announced its first case of COVID-19 and in pursuance to the agreed decision, the St. Augustine’s College and the Efutu Senior Technical School both in the Cape Coast Metropolis were chosen for that purpose.
This had been met with strong resistance from residents especially those who reside in and around the two schools.
The Regional Minister has since called for calm as the rapid response team worked around the clock to contain the disease.
