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COVID-19: Government reviews discharge policy
The government has reviewed its discharge policy on patients of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
With the policy, asymptomatic patients would be discharged in 10 days after showing no signs of the disease.
“For asymptomatic patients, 10 days after symptoms of onset, plus at least three days without symptoms, you are discharged without a test,” the Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye has announced at a press briefing in Accra yesterday.
The days for discharge of symptomatic patients would however remain 14 after two negative tests.
He indicated that, the review was done in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ghana’s clinical management guidelines on the disease.
In addition, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said, the revised policy was to allow the management of the country’s COVID-19 cases focus on newly infected patients and to decongest its holding centres.
“This is to allow us more time to give attention to those who are newly positive, and also create place in our facilities to be able to take care of more cases,” he said.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye used the platform to explain discharges, saying, discharged persons are those who are healthy, with no traces of virus in their blood and poses no risk to others.
During his turn, the Director of Public Health at the GHS, Dr Badu Sarkodie also provided details of the country’s cases of COVID-19, which showed that the cases had almost reached 13, 000.
He said that, as of June 16, the number of COVID-19 cases in Ghana was 12,929, resulting from 339 new cases from 36 districts in nine out of the 16 regions.
The 12,929 was a combination of 8,395 active cases and 4,468 recoveries and 66 deaths.
Meanwhile, 14 patients of the COVID-19 are critically ill, with four others on ventilators.
The regional breakdown comprised of 154 cases from 17 districts in the country’s regional capital, Accra, with 58 cases from two districts in the Western Region.
The Ashanti Region has recorded 41 new cases from two districts, while the Central Region’s new cases were 38, all from one district.
Meanwhile, the Eastern and Volta regions have 15 and 13 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases respectively, from a total of three districts in the two regions.
The remaining 21 cases are from five districts in three regions namely Bono East nine, Northern nine and the Savannah two.
Source: Ghanaian Times
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Ghana to host African Catholic Journalists from August 10
The Union Catholique Africaine de la Presse (UCAP), also known as the African Catholic Union of the Press, in collaboration with the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners-Ghana (CAMP-G), is set to host its prestigious Triennial Congress from August 10 to 17 August, 2025.
The programme would be held at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Legon, Accra, Ghana.
This landmark event, the most significant gathering of Catholic journalists in Africa, will bring together media professionals, researchers, and experts in digital technology from across the continent and beyond.
The theme for the Congress is: “Balancing Technological Progress and the Preservation of Human Values in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Congress Highlights
The UCAP Congress 2025 will feature discussions and deliberations on critical issues arising from or related to integral human development, particularly within the framework of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Some of the key sub-themes to be addressed include:Corporate Social Responsibility in Managing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Values, Deploying AI in Eco-friendly Business Start-ups in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, Technology and the Reprogramming of Social Reality, Distortion of Reality in Social and Digital Media, Ecological Education and Action Against Unsustainable Exploitation of Natural Resources, and Media and the Promotion of the Recommendations of the Synod on Synodality in Africa.
Participants will include media professionals from both ecclesiastical and lay organisations, media researchers and academics, representatives from the Vatican, government agencies, NGOs, civil society, and the digital technology sector.
Objectives of the Congress
The primary goal of this Congress is to strengthen the capacities of media professionals and educate the public on the necessity of preserving human values amid rapid technological progress. Specific objectives include; Training 100 media practitioners in Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies, with a focus on balancing innovation and human values.
This will include promoting ethics and bioethics in technical research and technological innovations through media.
Advocating for human values such as respect for life, human dignity, charity, solidarity, and human rights and assessing the impact of technological progress to better understand the challenges, risks, and opportunities presented by AI will be part of the objectives.
UCAP is a continental organisation dedicated to promoting communication within the Catholic Church and its partners in Africa. With a mission to foster spiritual growth, collaboration, and responsible journalism, UCAP works to spread the Gospel, uphold human values, and support developmental initiatives across Africa and beyond.
UCAP is an independent, autonomous, non-political, and non-profit organisation comprising African Catholic journalists, communicators, academics, researchers, and institutions in various media fields.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
