Coronavirus burial team ‘overwhelmed’ by death toll

Six bodies were buried on Thursday at the Awudome cemetery

It has emerged that the Coronavirus burial team is overwhelmed by the death toll from the deadly disease in Ghana.

Leader of the team, Inspector Joseph Asitanga, has been quoted in a report as saying that the number of bodies awaiting burial at various morgues are high.

“Today we’re burying six; we’re overwhelmed with the bodies in the various morgues,” a report by Adomonline quoted Inspector Asitanga on Saturday, August 8, 2020.

“According to him, a lot more bodies are still in waiting after some 97 have already been buried,” the report stated.

Following the outbreak of the pandemic in Ghana, the state directed that bodies of people who succumb to the coronavirus will not be released to the bereaved families for burial.

Rather, the state will take charge of the burial within the shortest possible time after the death, in consultation with the family of the victim.

Latest updates on Ghana’s coronavirus situation as of August 7, 2020, puts the national death toll from the pandemic at 206, according to the Ghana Health Service.

Six bodies were buried by the coronavirus burial team on Thursday afternoon at the Awudome cemetery.

“At times we move around town in the night or day time we see people gathered in their numbers very close without observing the national protocol measures but we get sadden that people feel that Covid is not within where they find themselves,” Inspector Asitanga is further quoted in the Adomonline report.

He has also raised concerns about the interference by some relatives of the deceased saying, “we went through so much hustle and drama at the hands of these relatives and that’s been the situation a lot of the time. We plead with them to allow us to do our work”.

According to the report, Thursday’s exercise saw some relatives of deceased in a mild standoff with hospital morgue officials and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) workers.

The family members had wanted an opportunity to see the bodies of their relatives and pay final respect but that according to the burial team would be in breach of their protocols.

The team also called on the government to better equip them with logistics and “motivation” to work.