Blood sample with respiratory coronavirus positive
Ghana has now recorded eleven cases of persons affected with the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) website.
Yesterday, the website dedicated to update Ghanaians on the cases of persons infected with the coronavirus indicated that two additional cases have been recorded.
The GHS disclosed that it received notification from the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) indicating two newly confirmed cases at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
2 new cases
“The first is a 59-year-old Ghanaian woman, resident in the United Kingdom who recently returned to Ghana and currently living in Kumasi, reported to a private hospital with the history of fever (temp of 39.1 ℃ ), general malaise, cough and runny nose. Her condition was suspected to be COVID-19. Sample was subsequently collected and sent to KCCR and the report was received this early morning as positive for COVID-19,” it explained.
“The second case is a 61-year-old Lebanese male trader and resident in Kumasi. He felt unwell and reported to a health facility with fever (temp 39.4 ℃ ), and cough. The sample tested positive for COVID-19,” it added.
GHS says both case patients are being managed in isolation and responding to treatment adding that the confirmed cases in Ghana are from Turkey, Norway, Germany, France, United States of America, United Kingdom (UK) and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Earlier cases
The Ghana Health Service recorded its 9th case in the Greater Accra region on Wednesday, March 18 2020.
In a press statement, the GHS said one of the affected persons was a 56-year-old Ghanaian who returned to Accra from a trip to the United Kingdom (UK) about a week ago.
The other is a 33-year-old Ghanaian who returned to Accra from a conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the GHS, both were imported cases, adding that the patients were receiving treatment in isolation.
The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in a tweet earlier had explained that the two extra cases were recorded overnight.
“Unfortunately we have confirmed two more cases overnight. Ghana’s case count is now at 9. Health services are still managing all suspected and confirmed cases well,” he added.
The Ghana Health Service, in a statement, said that 399 contacts have been identified as persons who came into contact with affected persons.
“Nineteen (19) of the contacts developed some forms of symptoms and samples were taken for laboratory testing. We have received laboratory results for 15 of them which are all negative for COVID-19 and we are awaiting results for the four (4) others. Contact identification and tracking for the newly confirmed cases have just started,” it said.
Health expert
At a press briefing to update Ghanaians on the status of COVID-19 in Ghana, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed that predictions by health experts are that the number of cases of the pandemic will rise within the above-mentioned period before a likely decline of the spread of the disease.
“The health experts tell us that the next two weeks are critical in determining whether or not we will get significant community spread. They tell us that, the general theory of pandemic management is that, often the numbers are likely to go up a bit before the situation gets better. Therefore, they are bracing for the possibility of some limited recordings of more cases in the medium term but they continue to assure us that, the systems they are putting together are such that we are able to control it and hold this virus in check,” he said.
He quickly assured of the government’s preparedness for any impending case and therefore called on Ghanaians to be calm and take precautionary measures seriously.
