Eighty-five basic and senior high schools in the Ashanti Region have recorded cases of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Regional Health Director, Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, said 365 students and workers in the schools have been infected out of which 254 have recovered.

Dr Tinkorang said currently, 25 schools have active cases with 111 people infected.

He said the cases recorded in the schools include both the Alpha and Delta variants.

Speaking to the media today, Monday, 26 July 2021, Dr Tiinkorang bemoaned that most of the students have disregarded the COVID-19 safety protocols, leading to the spread of the disease.

Dr Tinkorang said the health service is working with the schools’ management to ensure the cases are reduced.

He called on the school authorities to ensure strict compliance with the COVID-19 protocols to protect the students from getting the diseases.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stressed that the wearing of masks in public places is mandatory, adding that anyone who flouts this law will have him/herself to blame.

He bemoaned and described as ‘troubling’, the drastic fall in the high compliance rate of mask-wearing.

A failure to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols, according to the president, had led to the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Addressing the country on COVID-19 for the 26th time, Nana Akufo-Addo said: “It is extremely troubling to note that the high compliance rate with mask-wearing has fallen alarmingly. The wearing of masks in public places, fellow Ghanaians, continues to be mandatory. There are no exceptions to this rule, and strict conformity with this protocol will be enforced. Anyone found to be flouting this directive will have him or herself to blame. We cannot afford anyone’s recklessness to endanger the lives of the majority of persons in the country.”

As part of measures to stop the spread of the virus, the president announced a ban on all post-funeral receptions and said one-week funeral anniversaries should be “restricted solely to family members, and should not exceed a duration of two hours”. 

He also directed that all funerals should not go beyond two hours. 

He also urged workplaces and their owners to run shifts as part of measures to stem the tide of the COVID-19 upsurge.