Dr. Ekow Otoo, a Deputy Bono Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in-charge of Public Health on Thursday appealed for strict adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols among the general public.

He said that would greatly help to curb the increasing rate of COVID-19 cases being recorded in the region.

Improper compliance with the health and safety protocols, he observed had become the major challenge in fighting the menace and therefore appealed to the public to protect themselves and others from being infected.

Dr. Otoo made the appeal at a Regional Public Health Emergency Management Committee (RPHEMC) meeting in Sunyani, stating that lack of isolation and case holding centres at the districts had also become a worrying trend since most of the districts were not prepared adequately for the pandemic.

The meeting, attended by regional heads of departments and institutions discussed the situational report on the COVID-19 outbreak and management in the region.

He said the incidence of confirmed cases in the region indicated clear evidence that people were abusing the protocols and advised that the public needed to renew the ways of managing the pandemic to be able to overcome its alarming rate of increase.

Dr Otoo implored the media and other risk communication and mobilization teams in the communities to do more education about the infection and the protocols adherence.

He said the Health Directorate had recorded 774 cases in the region with 106 active cases, nine deaths, and 3,314 contact tracing.

Dr. Otoo said almost all the districts in the region had recorded cases, saying, the Sunyani Municipality was leading with 78 while a total of 260 health workers had tested positive.

He said the Health Directorate had adopted the routine surveillance system of testing people who reported sick at health facilities with suspected COVID-19 symptoms, saying, many of them had tested positive which had necessitated contact tracing by the COVID-19 response team.

Dr. Otoo said the percentage of deaths and recovery rates in relation to total recorded cases in the region was 1.2 per cent and 85.1 respectively.

He entreated the District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) to co-operate with the Municipal and District Assemblies to ensure the availability of isolation and quarantine facilities for preventive and curative purposes of the pandemic.

Dr. Otoo again urged the DHMTs to liaise with the Ghana Education Service (GES) for effective monitoring and supervision to ensure that students and pupils were safe in studying at much-secured environments.