The Ghana Registered Nurses’ and Midwives’ Association (GRNMA) has reiterated the need for government to consider all nurses and midwives as benefactors of the 50% basic salary allowance given to frontline health workers combating the Covid-19 situation in Ghana.
President Akufo Addo in his fifth (5) televised address on April 05, 2020 announced an insurance package, with an assured sum of three hundred and fifty thousand Cedis (GH¢350,000) for each health personnel and allied professional at the forefront of the fight, with a daily allowance of one hundred and fifty Cedis (GH¢150) being paid to contact tracers. Government also decided that all health workers will be exempted from tax on their emoluments for three months,-April, May and June, 2020.
This announcement has since generated mixed reactions from the public, health workers and other concerned persons on who qualifies to be a frontline worker.
The General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwifery Association, Mr. David Tenkorang-Twum argues that health workers at the COVID-19 centres, pre triage and triage areas, isolation bay, and treatment centres are not the only ones at risk of being infected with the novel coronavirus in the line of their duty.
For him, all health workers are at risk since “an infected person who doesn’t exhibit any symptoms of covid-19 could go to a hospital and infect any health worker.”
Touching on the death of a nurse due to COVID-19, Mr. Tenkorang-Twum expressed worry that most of the health workers infected with COVID-19 were not frontline workers but those at the various hospitals.
He said the association will forward to government names of all nurses who have been infected with Covid-19 to make their case.
“Very soon we shall forward to the government a list of nurses and midwives who have been infected with the novel coronavirus in their line of duty. Most of them are at the ordinary wards and that makes it dangerous.”
He advised that health facilities begin to practice “task system” where particular nurses will attend to specific individuals. This, he said, is to ensure that health workers are not frequently exposed to patients.
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Source: Victoria Adonu/ ATLFMNEWS
