Lab Technician dies of coronavirus, leaves behind 2-month-old baby

A laboratory technician has died of coronavirus, leaving behind a wife and a two-month-old baby.

The health professional, who worked at Weija-Gbawe Municipal hospital in the Greater Accra Region, died on Monday, June 22, 2020, at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

The Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS) confirmed the death of their member in a statement on Wednesday.

“The cause of death was COVID-19 and he will be buried on June 25, 2020, in Kumasi,” the statement said.

He was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) emergency unit on Friday, June 19, 2020, after he complained of trouble in breathing.

The frontline worker “was very much involved in sample collection for COVD-19 testing from the enhanced contact tracing in Accra from March 2020 and a hardworking professional in the said hospital”.

“Our hearts are with the family of the gallant professional. It is sad that with the restrictions, only 15 people could be part of the urgent burial as the protocols require,” the statement said.

“Sad to depart to glory from the very pandemic you devoted to fighting. To the wife and children, and his parents, he was a soldier who fought for his nation at the time of a war against a pandemic. Rest in peace, our dear colleague,” the statement added.

The deceased is a father of two.

He becomes the first laboratory technician to have died in Ghana since the coronavirus pandemic hit Ghana in March.

Two doctors have also died from coronavirus, while the death of a community health nurse was reported in May.

More than 160 health workers have contracted coronavirus as at the time of this report. They have complained about inadequate protection in their line of work.