Measures to prevent spread of Covid-19: The assumptions and the reality at the Tema General Hospital

Kwame Grundoo, DCMC member, Tema

By: Kwame Grundoo, a DCMC member, Tema  (June 2, 2020)

Many institutions, including health facilities have adopted some measures such as the installation of hand washing facilities at their front desks and entries to limit the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

A visit to the Tema General Hospital by SEND GHANA District Citizens Monitoring Committee (DCMC) on Thursday, May 21, 2020, shows that management has provided handwashing facilities at the main entrance of the hospital and ART unit.

Other measures such as seating arrangements are done in a way that allows for physical distancing. Health professionals on duty are wearing protective clothing such as nose mask and overcoat.

Mr. Daniel Koranteng, who is a model of hope at the ART unit of the hospital said the hospital is doing all that is possible to guarantee the safety of its clients and the preventive measures are being improved daily based on feedback from clients and as more supplies are received from the health administration.

All clients are also required to wear nose masks during counseling sessions. The hospital has also erected canopies in the yard where clients receive their medications to avoid overcrowding at the dispensary.

While this is commendable, some lapses remain as regards the use of the hand washing facilities.

Many clients and visitors, under the nose of health staff, enter and exit the hospital without utilizing these facilities. This presupposes that the practice of handwashing is loosely enforced and some clients will not do so willingly if they are not monitored or compelled.

This, therefore, calls for more stringent measures to ensure that each visiting client, must first and foremost, wash their hands before they proceed to their respective destinations or units.

About the DCMC

The Tema DCMC is a voluntary committee formed under the USAID People for Health (P4H) project implemented by SEND GHANA, the Ghana News Agency, and Penplusbytes.

Since the Covid-19 restrictions were put in place by the government, the DCMC has been sensitizing citizens on the preventive protocols and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Patient’s charter using social media platforms.