Police personnel at the Osu District Police Station are living in fear, following a suspected case of positive COVID-19 case in a cell at the station.
The heightened tension is because a convicted person, who was rejected by authorities of the Ghana Prison Service and demanded his coronavirus health status before accepting him, had allegedly tested positive.
A source close to the station said the accused was jailed last week by an Accra Circuit Court, but was sent back to the police, following suspicions that he was showing symptoms of the virus when he arrived at the Nsawam Prison.
Samples taken on May 12 returned with a result confirming that the convict tested positive. But there are doubts over the results, as the identity on the test result was different from the convict.
“The continuous stay of the accused person in our cell has implications for us,” the source said.
Another test has been carried out to validate the result, while the convict his isolated.
Health officials from the Korle Klottey Municipal Health Directorate have taken another sample from the convict, which result is expected to settle the matter.
The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Sheila Abayie Buckman, confirmed the story and indicated that steps had been taken to ensure that the virus did not spread at the station.
“The health officials have been notified. Even our Police Hospital public health officials have been notified, and they have already taken steps to see if the information can be verified, and if verified, they will take the necessary actions.
She said when the incident came to the attention of the police hierarchy, it police took steps for the court to vary the convict’s court order from prison to police custody, to enable health officials remedy the situation, while he is in police custody.
“Fortunately, the convict is doing well, according to the health officials, and is not manifesting any sign. For those who are not positive, the justice system has made an arrangement for them to be sent to dedicated prisons to ensure that we do not spread the virus.
“In every police station that we have a suspected case, steps have been taken to isolate the convicts,” she added.
Going forward, she said the Inspector General of Police had given an order that fresh suspects be isolated.
“This convict happened to be the only person taken in fresh, and he was even isolated before the information came regarding this status that we are not even certain about now,” she said.
But this is not the first time there is a reported case of police cells harbouring COVID-19 infections. Similar cases have been reported at the Adenta and Ashaiman police stations.
Coronavirus: 10 inmates at the Ashaiman police station test positive
Ghana’s police cells and prisons tend to be congested, a condition that experts fear could easily fester the spread of the deadly infection.
With the country’s cases climbing up, prison authorities seek to isolate inmates from a possible spread to protect the prison population.
Currently, there are more than 13,000 prisoners in Ghana’s prisoners.
The Ankaful Maximum Security Prison recorded its first case of coronavirus on May 7, five days after the convict arrived.
7 officers in isolation as Ankaful prison records first COVID-19 case
A very Good steps taken by the security Agency kudos.