Admissions are expected to begin at the new Covid-19 treatment centre at the Kumasi South Hospital on Monday.

The addition of 20-beds will increase the facility's current 21-beds capacity to 41 making it the biggest treatment centre in the Ashanti Region.

Medical Superintendent of the Kumasi South Hospital, Dr Ofori Boadu who took JoyNews on a tour of the new treatment centre said additional equipment is being procured to resource the centre.

The expansion works come a day after Regional Health Directorate announced that all treatment centres at the Komfo Anokye and Kumasi South Hospitals are full.

This means the current 38-bed facilities are inadequate.

Authorities say additional 100-beds at Kumasi South, Suntreso and a private facility would be added to increase the current capacity to 138 beds.

A visit to the Kumasi South Hospital showed artisans were busy working to put the facility in shape.

Dr Ofori Boadu said maintenance works are expected to be completed over the weekend to allow patients to be admitted from Monday onwards.

"We are estimated that by the close of Saturday, this place would be ready so that we can admit cases to this ward on Monday".  

According to him, few cement works will precede tiling of walls of the facility which used to serve pregnant women.

"We are doing plastering, plumbing works and then create entry and exit for staff so that we don't contaminate ourselves in our bid to save the confirmed cases," he said.  

Kumasi South which is also the Regional Hospital has until the emergence of Covid-19 was faced with infrastructure and human resource challenges.

Dr. Boadu admitted that the facility is overstretched.

"Indeed we are and the answer is yes," he said adding that there has been re-alignment at the facility to meet current demands.

"Like I keep saying, we would have to do a bit more than we are doing to be able to sustain our efforts and contain the virus.

"I keep telling my staff, if we do not stop or curtail the movement of the virus outside, it will come into our homes to kill us...so yes we are overwhelmed but the fight goes on," he said.