There are reports that a Norwegian diplomat and a Ghanaian from Turkey are the carriers of the coronavirus recorded in Ghana.
This confirms the statement by Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu that the two cases being handled by the country’s health professionals were imported.
Sources say the Ghanaian came in from Turkey, having gone there for an assignment with an international agency while the Norwegian, appears to have returned to Ghana after helping organise President Akufo-Addo’s recent visit to the European country.
At an emergency press conference on Thursday night by the Ministry of Information, Mr Agyemang-Manu, flanked by Information Minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah and Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Badu Sarkodie, confirmed the coronavirus infection in Ghana.
“Laboratory results of the two confirmed cases were received at the same time from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research.
“Both individuals returned to Ghana – one from Norway and the other from Turkey – so these are imported cases of COVID-19,’ he said.
He, however, assured the citizenry the two patients are stable and have been kept in isolation.
According to him, the Health Ministry and other agencies have begun to trace the patterns of the carriers since they got into the country.
Meanwhile, Ghanaians who seem unhappy with the approach taken by the government in handling the issue have taken to various social media platforms to express their opinions.
While many believe government had known about the confirmed coronavirus cases hence an announcement by President Akufo-Addo that some $100 million have been allocated towards the fight against the virus, others felt critical details on the victims, and the money allocated by government were missing from both announcement.
Ghana reviews protocol for inbound traffic from coronavirus hit countries
Meanwhile, Ghana has firmed up the protocol for inbound traffic from countries affected by the fast-spreading coronavirus (COVID-19) in a bid to prevent the disease from entering the country.
President Nana Akufo-Addo revealed this on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in a televised national address on measures government has put in place in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that has now been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He explained that a recent directive from the Jubilee House banning all ministers, Deputy Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and heads of government agencies from foreign travels is among measures to quell a possible outbreak of the disease in Ghana.
Apart from revealing that there have been major enhancements of protocol for travellers entering Ghana from countries that have confirmed cases of the deadly zoonotic disease, he did not provide details of these enhanced protocols.
Already, cases of the coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late December 2019 are being reported daily around the world.
Currently, more than 4,200 people have died globally from COVID-19.
Also, more than 118,000 infections have been confirmed in dozens of countries, according to the WHO.
All three of Ghana’s immediate neighbouring countries – Togo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso – have confirmed cases of the disease, raising fears that the virus may soon hit Ghana.
