Frontline health care providers should remain calm and professional

The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has called for all frontline health care providers to remain calm and professional in the wake of the confirmation of the first two cases of the flu-like coronavirus in the country.

It asked that nurses and midwives should be alert in the conduct of their daily routine in all clinical settings, especially in the out-patient department and emergency units to identify suspected cases and to strictly adhere to universal precautions on infection prevention.

This was contained in a press release jointly signed by the President of the Association, Mrs. Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, and the General Secretary, David Tenkorang-Twum, and copied to the Ghana News Agency ( GNA ), in Accra.

It underlined the need for the Health Ministry to provide the required logistics to deal with the virus and stop its spread at the designated treatment centres.

Nursing and Midwifery Managers must also ensure that personal protective equipment were available for use by nurses and midwives working in isolated units in the designated treatment centres, it added.

"In the event of unavailability of these logistics at the isolation centres, we strictly advice our nurses and midwives to protect their lives by removing themselves from that environment."

The Association urged everybody not to panic and to follow all preventive measures outlined by the Health Ministry.

It pledged its support to the coordinated efforts to identify, manage, contain and prevent the spread of the virus.

The virus has infected more than 130,000 people and left in excess of 5,000 dead.