GMA warns Ghanaians to tread cautiously as more doctors contract coronavirus

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) is appealing to Ghanaians to demonstrate a high sense of responsiveness in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

They should avoid the flagrant breaches of the protocols to minimize the rate of infection and attendance consequences on the society, especially the country’s healthcare system.

“What we are witnessing currently is that more practising medical doctors and health workers are getting infected,” Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo, Ashanti Regional President of the GMA, lamented in an interaction with the media in Kumasi.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered that of the 150 Ghanaian doctors testing positive for COVID-19 in the last three months, 54 of them were based in the Ashanti Region, representing about one-third of the total cases.

“What would become of patients in our hospitals if those expected to take care of them are absent?” Dr Baidoo quizzed, and asked the citizenry to face the realities of the current situation.

According to the Ghana Health Service’s portal on the pandemic, the country had as of Tuesday, July 07, recorded a total case counts of 21, 077 with 16, 070 recoveries, and 129 deaths.

Sixty-three (63) of the deaths were recorded in the Ashanti Region, which currently has the highest COVID-19 death rates in the country.

The Region also has the second-highest infection rate, recording 4, 534 confirmed cases per the latest statistics.

Dr Baidoo cautioned that as more health professionals got infected, the trend could eventually upset the healthcare delivery system.

The GMA, he said, was not happy with the reckless manner in which the ongoing voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission had failed to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

“We need to tread cautiously as a nation in order not to be overtaken by events,” Dr Baidoo advised.

In spite of the challenges confronting health workers under the present circumstances, he said, the GMA would continue to give expert advice to the government based on scientific data.

He was emphatic that the Association would not resort to strike in putting across its grievances, because “it would be the most irresponsible position to take in the face of the pandemic.”

The Regional GMA President asked the government to make available to healthcare workers on a regular basis the requisite personal protective items to enhance the fight against the disease.