We don't have enough spaces for ICU cases - GMA on rising coronavirus cases

• The Ghana Medical Association has raised concerns about this development

• General Secretary of GMA, Dr. Justice Yankson has said they will be swarmed with the cases if there is inadequate infrastructure

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has noted that there are not enough spaces at some major hospitals in Accra to contain patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

General Secretary of GMA, Dr. Justice Yankson attributed this to the surge in the country's case count of coronavirus.

He pointed out that this could lead the country to experience a third wave of the virus which is fast spreading.

Dr. Justice Yankson, while speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show said, “If you look at what is happening, our general numbers are also going up, and there are hotspots all over the place, not just in Accra, Ashanti Region and other regions as well. So clearly, this could be the beginning of potentially another third wave...Our ability to handle severe critical cases in terms of ICU spaces, generally as a country we don’t have enough space for that category of persons. That is not to say we don’t have any capacity at all."

Another concern raised by Dr. Yankson is inadequate oxygen and other equipment at the major hospitals in the country.

“In terms of the availability of equipment, oxygen, we don’t have enough, and as it stands now, most of the critical care areas are flooded with covid-19 patients, so clearly, this is just the beginning of something that we all don’t want to say. But, even at this point, we are beginning to get overstretched in these areas,” he added.

Ghana's active cases, according to the Ghana Health Service data is 2,247. It witnessed a sharp rise with 398 more cases.

Ridge Hospital, according to myjoyonline report has 16 ICU beds, with 8 beds already occupied.