COVID-19: Almost everyone at the Ministry of Education has tested positive - NAPO

- Education minister gives an account of how he survived COVID-19 at the UGMC

- Matthew Opoku Prempeh says the majority of his staff have tested positive

- He urged Ghanaians not to play with the disease since it's real

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Ghana’s Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has revealed that the majority of his staff at the ministry has tested positive for COVID-19.

In an interview on Peace FM on 9 July, the member of parliament for Manhyia said mass testing was conducted at the Ministry of Education and results showed that 45 out of 50 people tested positive.

“At my workplace, everyone has been tested. A lot of them tested positive for the virus. Assuming I have a total staff of 50, about 45 of them have the virus. None of them has been hospitalized but they are currently in self-isolation,” he said.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: 779 health workers in Ghana infected with virus

The MP for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) also stated that he almost died from COVID-19.

He said:

“It was only God that helped me while I was on admission. For all the 52 years of my life, I’ve never been admitted to the hospital before and it was not a pleasant experience. The disease is very real and I don’t wish it on even my foe,”

Opoku Prempeh noted that the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) is full, with a limited number of beds to accommodate the increasing number of COVID-19 cases being moved to the facility.

In view of this, he cautioned citizens against being “indifferent” about the virus, describing Ghana’s COVID-19 situation as one that has reached a “critical point.”

While speaking to Kwami Sefa Kayi on the Kokrooko show on Peace FM he said:

“We are at a critical point now. UGMC and Korle-Bu are currently full. How many beds are available there? I never visited the intensive care unit, but others went to the ICU and never returned. We should, therefore, not be indifferent about the situation because it has not affected any of our relatives.”

READ ALSO: 641 new COVID-19 cases take Ghana’s total to 23 463

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Students at Mpraeso SHS in isolation after suspected infection

The minister, who is also known as NAPO, reported to the facility on 24 June upon feeling unwell and was taken in.

Narrating his experience with the coronavirus, he revealed that he tested positive while on admission at the facility where he self-isolated for two weeks.

The minister was discharged on 8 July and is now hale and hearty.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that 32 medical members of staff at Tamale Teaching Hospital in the Northern Region of Ghana have tested positive for COVID-19.

The number comprises 19 medical doctors, 12 nurses, and 1 orderly. Confirming the news, the Director of Medical Affairs at the hospital, Dr. Abass Adam, said some of them have been treated and discharged while others were still on admission.

He added that all 80 staff who came into contact with their colleagues who unfortunately tested positive for COVID-19 had their results return negative.

Senior Minister, Osafo-Maafo, tests positive for COVID-19:

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Source: YEN.com.gh