The Directorate, however, urged pregnant women to avoid contact with persons who are coughing or sneezing and use a tissue when they cough or sneeze.

Dr Charity Sarpong, the Regional Director of Health Services, said this in a statement to celebrate the annual Child Health Promotion Week, which spans May 11 to 15.

It is on the theme: “Promoting New Born and Child Health Services in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic”.

The commemoration was to heighten awareness among the public about routine child health services, which were being provided by staff in public health facilities and outreach points despite the ongoing pandemic.

The statement encouraged parents with children aged zero to five years to visit the nearest health facility within their communities in the Greater Accra Region to access services such as growth monitoring, immunisation, and birth registration during the commemoration.

Other services include Vitamin-A supplementation, Nutrition counselling, promoting antenatal, supervised delivery services, and postnatal care for mother and new-born, and prevention of COVID-19.

It assured caregivers and the public that child health services were being provided in a very safe environment by taking into account social distancing and the other recommended precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

It urged mothers to avoid unhealthy foods and snacks such as sweets, sugary drinks, and fast foods for children.

The statement urged breastfeeding mothers to do so safely, especially if they tested positive adding that “Wear a mask while breat-feeding or taking care of your baby to protect him/her from being infected”.

It added that mothers should ensure that they completed the child’s immunisation process before he/she turned two because vaccines protected children from diseases that could kill or disable them.