Pregnant Nurses and breastfeeding Mothers working at the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua are boiling with anger as they are put on tight duty rosters in spite of the risk of coronavirus infection.
The worry among these groups of staff has heightened following Eastern Regional Health Directorate’s report that two cases have been recorded in Koforidua while about 16 health workers have tested positive in the region.
The unavailability of PPE for health workers at various wards of the Regional Hospital rubs salt into their wounds.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has meanwhile said it is evaluating why a lot more health workers are testing positive for COVID-19 in the country.
Last week, for instance, it was reported that 43 health workers in the Western Region have tested positive for covid-19 while 30 have also be infected in the Ashanti Region.
On March 31, 2020, the Director-General of GHS Dr.Patric Aboagye issued a memo to Health Directors at the National level to the effect that “National Service Personnel, interns, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and drivers without assigned official vehicles are to be excused from work with immediate effect. Rotational Nurses and officers in the residency program are exempted”
The Memo sighted by Bryt News explained that Management of GHS took the decision to reduce staffing levels of those operating at the national level to avoid “non-essential” commuting or travelling, overcrowding and contacts with others to enhance social distancing as to prevent the spread of infections at the workplace.
One may think that Management of the Eastern Regional Hospital will reduce working hours for staff who are Pregnant and breastfeeding Mothers, however, they are still on normal duty schedule with some working six days with just a day off amid anxiety of endangering their lives and that of their babies with the coronavirus.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Obed Ansah
