11-Day-Old Baby Contracts Covid-19 As KATH Sees Surge In Cases Among Children
- Home
- 11-Day-Old Baby Contracts Covid-19 As KATH Sees Surge In Cases Among Children
11-Day-Old Baby Contracts Covid-19 As KATH Sees Surge In Cases Among Children
The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in the Ashanti Region is recording an upsurge of Covid-19 cases among children.
In the last 10 days, the facility has recorded 9 child cases.
While the youngest among them is an 11-day-old baby, the oldest is 14 years.
Head of the Child Health Directorate, Prof Sampson Antwi, said the situation is taking a toll on the facility as management struggles to access space for children diagnosed with Covid-19 and other cases.
“We are having a huge surge in Covid positive cases and the disease initially, children were said to be spared. We had 14 the whole of last year but this year, just the spate of 10-days, we got 9 positive cases,” he told JoyNews.
The hospital is the only paediatric referral facility in the northern sector of the country.
Management says the hospital is overstretched and in dire need of space.
“The Covid strain that we are having now is really also affecting children seriously. If less than 2-weeks we are getting 9 cases, we don’t go where we are going to go and we are already full,” says Prof Antwi.
Prof Antwi says the facility can no longer admit cases.
“We are not in the position even to bring new cases. I don’t mean Covid. Anybody who is sick when you come here, we will just triage you infront [of the hospital] probably in an ambulance that you came in with. If there’s something that we need to do for you, we can do to stabilize you and send you back because our wards are full”.
According to him, there are ongoing talks with the Regional Health Directorate to create a treatment center for children with Covid-19.
“We are exploring the possibility of getting treatment center for children [with Covid].
“We are in talks with Medical Director. They have actually had discussions with the Regional Health Directorate to see if they can create space for children who are stable; Covid positives who are stable so that we can move some of them there.”
Medical Director of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Prof. Baafuor Kofi Opoku, revealed that out of 504 samples taken, 251, representing 49.8 per cent returned positive.
The figures were recorded between last year and January 26, 2021.
Meanwhile, management has denied allegations of neglect and lapses in its Covid-19 management.
Some caregivers at the Child Health Directorate have accused management of putting their lives at risk as suspected Covid-19 cases are managed alongside other patients.
But at the press briefing to respond to allegations, management denied the allegations.
- Share
Classic Ghana
Classic Ghana brings you into a fun world of arts, entertainment, fashion, beauty, photography, culture and all things in between. Let’s explore these together!
