Some residents of Kojo Boffour near Yeji in the Bono region have stormed the St. Mathias Catholic Hospital to remove the body of a person suspected to have died from COVID-19.
Reports indicate the incident occurred on Friday, August 7, 2020, during which they attacked workers of the facility.
A management member of the hospital, Rev Father Kojo Adjei Buadu, speaking in an interview on Accra-based radio station, said the deceased was taken ill and brought to the facility.
“There was an issue concerning a body that was brought in here. Initially, the person was brought to the hospital and it was suspected that he had COVID-19 and so a sample of him was taken to Kumasi.
“The family vehemently disagreed to allow the person to be isolated and so they sent the person home and later on, it happened that he passed on and was brought to the hospital mortuary without the notice of management,” he said.
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Rev. Buadu said the family resisted all attempts to bury the deceased per the national COVID-19 laid down rules.
“Later on, when we found out, we made sure that all the protocols were followed. We actually spoke to the family so that they will allow the COVID protocols to be followed but they insisted that they wouldn’t agree.
“All of a sudden, we noticed that on Friday, the youth came to the hospital around 4:pm, beat the security men on duty, broke into the mortuary, and took the body for burial. This has come about not because we want to punish the people, but to bring the perpetrators to book,” he said.
Meanwhile, he is on behalf of the hospital calling for the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators, adding the facility has suspended non-emergency and mortuary services following the incident.