The Greater Accra Regional Hospital – Ridge has put in place a comprehensive system to handle coronavirus cases should there be any in the country.

Medical Director, Dr Emmanuel Srofenyo who took journalists on a tour of some of the wards designated for such cases said the hospital is ready to handle any coronavirus case brought before it.

“An emergency response team in the hospital has been activated and strengthened with additional members of staff. Currently, we have 26 nurses, and nine doctors on standby for deployment to the centre.

“We have security men and orderlies. And we have trained and updated them on the physiological and pathological nature of the virus,” he said.

He added that the hospital has gone further to make available as many protective equipment as possible and has deployed them to the two special coronavirus centres.

“We have also created an elaborate process map – the processes an indicated case will go through once we discover you at the emergency that you might be somebody who is a suspect or confirmed. Four rooms have been set out for suspected cases with elaborate systems.”

Although the Ridge Hospital is putting the necessary measures in place to be able to handle the cases, Dr Srofenyo said more doctors will be needed for main hospital work and called on government to deploy them in time.

“All these people have to be trained ahead of time, we cannot just subject them to the environment when they have not been given adequate training. So we have security men, nurses and doctors on board.

“The implication then is that these staff work in the main hospital so when we deploy them to the centres, there is going to be a shortage at the main hospital and that is why we would like to appeal to government to send us more of the technical staff, especially nurses and additional doctors so that the preparedness plan can really work.

“Because much as we are treating these patients that may come, we do not want to compromise on the work that is done on the main side,” he added.

Last week, the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu who announced that the Ridge and Tema General Hospitals as facilities to manage possible coronavirus cases said his office and other partners have put in place measures to fight the deadly Coronavirus in case it is detected in Ghana.

The coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 560 people and infected over 28,000 – the vast majority in China.

Outside China, the infection has spread to over 25 countries, infecting more than 250 and killed two people.

Africa has yet to record any cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global health emergency.