A/R: GHS relying on smaller facilities to handle COVID-19 cases

As Covid-19 cases in the Ashanti Region continue to rise, the Ghana Health Service says it has resorted to relying on peripheral health facilities to support the intake of Covid-19 patients.

The service, last week, warned that treatment centres would be full if the rate of infections continues to rise.

Speaking to Newsmen, the Ashanti Regional Deputy Director of Health Services in charge of Public Health, Dr. Michael Rockson Adjei, said some facilities have been tasked to provide treatment for persons with moderate and mild cases.

Currently, the main treatment centres in the Ashanti Region are the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Kumasi South.

“They are not full, but they are hitting the brink,” Dr. Adjei said.

“We have already strategised to take off the pressure from these two facilities so that the periphery; the district hospitals and polyclinics and some private hospitals can also manage cases in a bid to soak up the pressure.”

Dr. Adjei also called on authorities to extend the enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols to areas outside Kumasi.

“The principal thing is to prevent cases or close the tap… people need to avoid getting infected by observing the protocols,” he said.

“We need to still step up with strengthening enforcement. We realised that the enforcement is mainly limited to the central parts of the Greater Kumasi area

“If things go on this way, it means that [peripheral] places can also get filled up and then the pressure may come to Komfo Anokye and Kumasi South,” he added.

The Ashanti Region has recorded 19,230 cases of the virus since the pandemic began.

In all, Ghana has recorded 109,022 cases of the virus and currently has 6,765 cases after a surge in cases in the last 40 days.

At the beginning of July, Ghana had 1,573 active cases of the virus.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com