Bono Region emerging hotspot for Covid-19 cases

Dr Prince Kwarshie of Bono Region has said that the region is currently vaccinating people on both AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines adding that it has received 9,200 AstraZeneca and 1000 of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines.

Bono Region emerging hotspot for Covid-19 cases
Dr Prince Kwarshie

The Acting Deputy Public Health Director for Bono Region, Dr Prince Kwarshie has stated that the Bono region is becoming one of the hotspots for Covid-19.

According to Dr Kwarshie, the region has so far recorded 2,050 confirmed cases with 78 people succumbing to the virus.

But he indicated that when it comes to health ranking in Ghana, Bono Region is ranked as one of the best in curbing health-related issues.

"We have strong and dedicated doctors and health workers who are committed to their work," he indicated.

He said the region is currently vaccinating people on both AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines adding that it has received 9,200 AstraZeneca and 1000 of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines.

He said because Johnson and Johnson vaccines are not adequate, the health directorate decided to administer it to the Sunyani Municipality so that when the region receives extra ones it would be distributed to the other municipalities and districts.

Speaking to the media, the acting General Manager and Private Job Manager of Zoomlion, Bono Region, John Otchere Oti said a total of 115 vaccination centres in the 12 administrative districts in the Bono Region would benefit from the nationwide management of medical waste exercise spearheaded by Zoomlion Ghana Limited.

 The exercise is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health, School of Hygiene and Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

According to Mr Oti, Zoomlion has distributed 64 general waste bins and 64 biomedical waste bins to 115 centres in all the 12 districts in the region.

Mr Oti disclosed that the exercise started on September 2, 2021, during a vaccination exercise for persons expected to take the second jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital.

According to him, the role of Zoomlion in the nationwide vaccination programme is to properly manage vaccination waste generated from the various centres per the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards to ensure the safety of Ghanaians.

“Zoomlion is a giant waste management company in Africa, so with our professionalism, we are making sure no waste is left behind and are ready to keep and treat medical waste generated at the vaccination centres well,” he assured.

He continued that the liners in the bins are changed on a daily basis, all in an effort to ensure the safety of Ghanaians against Covid-19.

Mr Otchere Oti said the Bono exercise began with a regional training workshop on August 31, 2021, and a municipal training on September 1, 2021,

“The vaccination itself started on 2 September 2021 and will take five days to end,” he noted.

Some of the places the media visited to monitor the exercise include; Municipal Hospital vaccination centre, the Regional Health Directorate vaccination centre and the Regional Hospital vaccination centre.

Alex Donkoh