Majority of doctors and nurses working at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days following exposure to a COVID-19 case.
A memo from the Head of Directorate to the Medical Director of the facility and sighted by Citi News said the health workers asked to stay home were found to have had “high-risk exposure” to the case.
The directorate said the ICU will therefore not run at full capacity for the next 14 days due to the reduced number of staff.
“Most of our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Doctors and Nurses got exposed to Polytrauma patient on admission in the ICU who tested positive for COVID-19. The risk assess puts most of them at high-risk exposure and have self-quarantined for 14 days,” the memo said.
KATH in the memo said in view of that, an urgent management meeting was held and the duty has been modified such that:
- The remaining Doctors will do cover for emergencies and obstetric cases only at NAKSA Theatre
- The ICU will not run at full capacity for 14 days
This development comes at a time when concerns have been expressed by the increasing number of health workers who are contracting COVID-19 or have had to self-quarantine due to exposure to COVDI-19 cases.
Some analysts have expressed fears that if urgent steps are not taken to stop the trend, Ghana may face a shortage of frontline health workers and that may jeopardize the country’s fight against COVID-19.
Last week the Special Advisor on Health at the Presidency, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare revealed that Ghana didn’t have enough critical staff for COVID-19 ICU cases.
He said the government, however, is training other health workers and bringing on board trainees to work in this role.
Across the country, there are reports of more than 150 health workers infected with COVID-19 in the line of duty.
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, has also contracted COVID-19.
President Akufo-Addo during his 11th address to the nation on government’s fight against the Coronavirus pandemic in Ghana wished Mr. Agyeman Manu a speedy recovery from COVID-19.
“Let us wish our hardworking Minister for Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman Manu, MP for Dormaa Central, a speedy recovery from the virus, which he contracted in the line of duty, and is in a stable condition,” the President urged.
