The Police Hospital in Accra has served notice it will undertake a mass burial of “some unclaimed and unidentified bodies to decongest the hospital mortuary.”

According to a statement signed by Head of Public Affairs at the facility, DSP Yaw Nketia-Yeboah, the exercise is due in 14 days.

While admitting that bodies were not being released to the public for funerals due to the ban on public gathering, the statement said families who sign an undertaking to comply with the existing protocol and hold private burials will be permitted to come for the bodies of a relative.

Since President Akufo-Addo issued a ban on social gatherings which includes funerals and asked Ghnaians to practice social distancing in a bid to halt a spread of the coronavirus, some morgues across the country have become congested or choked.

At the Pantang Hospital in Accra and the Bono Regional Hospital in Sunyani, families with dead relatives have refused to pick up the bodies, rather choosing to suspend the funeral until after the ban is lifted.

This has left Authorities at the two facilities worried. They are also appealing to the general public to embrace private burials, an option suggested by the President.

Due to the alien nature of these private burials which must have in attendance not more than 25 persons, loved ones continue to be left in morgues, causing these facilities to get congested. The situation, authorities say comes with some health implications.

Adding its voice to the call for private burials, the Ghana Police Hospital said families who wish to pick up bodies of relatives must do so with a casket and organise the burial without any delays.

Find statement below