About 13 medical doctors in the country have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as they were striving to save patients from contracting the deadly virus.
Besides, scores of nurses and other health workers, who are part of the frontline health workers working in some selected hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients, have also been infected.
Dr. Paa Kwasi Baidoo, the Ashanti Regional Chapter President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), made the sad disclosure on radio in Kumasi over the weekend.
According to him, the condition of one of the 13 doctors was critical, but his colleagues managed to bring him out of danger, and he is now better and responding to treatment like the others.
Dr. Baidoo stated that the Covid-19 is real and very dangerous and must not be underestimated, adding that some people are not taking the situation seriously.
He said he had noticed many recalcitrant people are not adhering to social distancing and other health and safety protocols needed to stop the spread of the disease, saying “a senior medical doctor in this country, sadly, has become a casualty of the deadly virus already, yet some people are behaving as if they don’t fear the virus.”
According to the Ashanti Regional GMA President, the 11 people that the Covid-19 had killed so far in the country were suffering from some underlining health conditions.
He said the number of deaths in the country has remained low compared to some countries because the facilities of the hospitals have not been overwhelmed.
According to him, it is better for the people to adhere to social distancing protocols and avoid unnecessary movements so the number of infected people would remain low.
Dr. Baidoo commended government highly for being bold to place some areas in the country on a lockdown for three weeks and said that helped to stop the rapid spread, but added that it was not the end of the disease.
“That decision to lock down some areas helped us in the contact tracing, which helped to contain the virus in a way,” he indicated, and called for more personal protective equipment for health workers.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi