The Ministry of Health has rejected a request by the Netherlands Embassy for the body of a patient who died from COVID-19 last week to be transferred from the government hospital to a private mortuary facility.
The sector minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu in a response to the Embassy noted that the Public Health Regulations regarding persons who die under circumstances such as COVID-19 must be strictly handled by the state and for that matter cannot be sent to a private facility.
“We regret to inform you that according to our Public Health Regulations, persons who died in such instances are strictly handled and buried by the State. Therefore, unfortunately, we are unable to grant your request,” the letter from the Ministry to the Embassy read.
Read the letter below:
About the deceased
The deceased in question, Samuel Waterberg, 41, died of COVID-19 last Friday [March 27, 2020].
He was the CEO of People’s Pension Trust, an innovative pension fund, focused on providing pension products for farmers, traders, small-scale enterprises, and people working within the informal economy.
He was also the president of Maxim Nyansa Foundation.
He lived in the Netherlands for 22 years before returning to Ghana in 2011.
Samuel was a banker by profession who worked in the Rabobank in Netherlands for 7 years, in the position of Relationship Manager Corporate Client, responsible for medium-large companies and institutions.
Mortalities from COVID-19 in Ghana
As at noon on Monday, March 30, 2020, five persons have been confirmed to have died from COVID-19 in Ghana.
That number including two persons who have recovered are included in Ghana’s total case count of 152.
