‘We’re overwhelmed’ - Coronavirus burial team

Leader of the coronavirus burial team, Inspector Joseph Asitanga, has described as, overwhelming the number of bodies they have in the morgues awaiting burial.

According to him, a lot more bodies are still in waiting after some 97 have already been buried. Updates on the Ghana Health Service websites puts Ghana’s Covid-19 death toll at 199 as of Thursday August 7.

Six were buried by the team Thursday afternoon at the Awodome cemetery.

Speaking to the press shortly after the burial, Mr. Asitanga cautioned the public against what he observed as a disregard for the COVID-19 protocols, indicating that the virus is real.

“At times we move around town in the night or day time we see people gathered in their numbers very close without observing the national protocol measures but we get sadden that people feel that COVID is not within where they find themselves”, he said.

He said the situation is getting out of hand and that the burial team is having a tough time dealing with the number.

“Today we’re burying six; we’re overwhelmed with the bodies in the various morgues”, he noted.

He was concerned that some relatives of the deceased sometimes interfere in their work

“You see we went through so much hustle and drama at the hands of these relatives and that’s been the situation a lot of the time. We plead to them to allow us do our work”.

Thursday’s exercise saw some relatives of deceased in a mild standoff with hospital morgue officials and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) workers. The family members had wanted an opportunity to see the bodies of their relatives and pay final respect but that according to the burial team would be in breach of their protocols.

Meanwhile, the burial team is calling on the government for to better equip them in their line of duty. They also complained about inadequate motivation.

They are at their wit end but committed to the cause as far as they can.