Correspondence from the Volta Region

The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in collaboration with the Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH) has set up an emergency preparedness and response task force to draw up a strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus in the Ho municipality, and to also establish protocols for handling any cases of infection that might show up in the area.

The established task force recently sat down with key stakeholders in the Ho Municipality and briefed them on the “UHAS & HTH Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan toward Novel Coronavirus”.

Director of Public Affairs at UHAS, Mrs. Maria Gwira, who moderated the briefing, explained that sharing the “UHAS & HTH Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan toward Novel Coronavirus” with shareholders in the municipality was crucial for getting everyone on board.

"We need to present a united front in order to manage this global emergency", said Mrs. Gwira.

According to the chairman of the task force Professor Harry Tagbor, who is also the Dean of the School of Medicine of UHAS, the task force has four subgroups namely; Clinical, Laboratory, Education & Training, and Publicity & Advocacy and all these subgroups have critical roles to play in preventing the spread of the deadly virus as well as handling of any suspected case of the virus in the Ho municipality and beyond.

The Clinical subgroup of the task force, according to its leader will follow strictly guidelines set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to develop protocols for every suspected cases.

The leader of the subgroup further stated that his team would designate spaces at Ho Teaching Hospital to be used as stabilization and holding areas for suspected cases of virus before transferring the patients to any designated national treatment centers.

It has also been revealed at the sitting that two members of the Laboratory subgroup of the task force have already undergone training at the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research (NMIMR) to acquire first-hand knowledge of the virus and the proper handling of samples.

However, the Special Adviser to the task force, Professor Fred Binka advised members of all the four subgroups to work in real-time as the virus is fast spreading and could hit the Ho municipality at any moment.