Region Ten focusing on awareness and education to beat COVID
– Regional Health Officer
The Region Ten Regional Democratic Council (RDC) is spearheading an awareness and educational programme to curb the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
In an interview with DPI on Monday, Regional Health Officer, Mr. Gregory Harris said the initiative was necessary as the Region’s testing capacity was low.
“The numbers are not surprising because previously, our testing rate was very low with a high positivity rate since our testing rate was about 30 tests per week so it means therefore, we had to make some adjustments,” he said.
While the health department has aired the Ministry of Health’s precautionary measures over the radio and television, Mr. Harris was doubtful that many residents either heard or observed them.
“We would have realised that although we’re using the radio and television to reach out to the general public, not everyone listens to the radio or even watch the television and so, we began fan-out exercises around the Region, especially in those areas which we refer to as the epicentre for the disease, like the mining area,” he said.
To augment this effort, the team distributed educational materials about Covid and donated hampers to persons in isolation.
Additionally, the Department has strengthened its civilian unit, which allowed officers to perform contact tracing in an efficient and effective manner.
This also led to an increase in the testing capacity, boosting it to about 200 tests per week. To date, 1, 300 persons were tested within the Region, with the number of active cases reaching over 70.
Currently, the Department is monitoring Aroaima, Canvas City, Central Mackenzie, Amelia’s Ward, Half Mile, Wisroc, Three Friends Mines, Blueberry Hill, Kwakwani, Christianburg, Retrieve, Block 22, One Mile, Kara, Coomacka Mines, Wismar, and Silvertown.
Meanwhile, the RHO said the two ventilators recently handed over to the Department for the Wismar Hospital have enhanced care, leading to better outcomes. While the Region recorded its 310th case on December 4, some 230 recoveries have been recorded, with the death toll remaining at five. A total of 40 tests were conducted last week.
The Department is also seeking to boost its critical care management and is expecting an infectious diseases specialist to be deployed soon from the Health Ministry.