Coronavirus: Give us protective gear or we won’t touch any corpse – Mortuary workers

The Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana (MOWAG) has called on the government to make available to its members, the highest quality protective clothing for their work in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

MOWAG said they stand on the last line in the fight against the deadly virus and have, therefore, already made available pictorial samples of this “quality protective clothing to the Ministry of Health.”

MOWAG in a statement noted that if “these protective clothes are not provided, members would be advised to regard all dead bodies brought to the mortuaries as having fallen by the Coronavirus. Also, no member would go for a body or bodies in the wards.”

The mortuary workers said they are disappointed that at the moments nothing has been said about whether or not dead bodies can further host the virus, therefore, for the sake of the safety of its members, they will take it that dead bodies are not free from the virus.

MOWAG expressed further disappointment that the authorities did not involve them in their training programmes for other workers in handling COVID-19.

The leadership of the MOWAG has directed its members to demand the highest quality protective clothing and treat all human remains as COVID-19 victims.