So far, a total number of 151 contacts have been traced to four out of six individuals who have been confirmed with the novel coronavirus in Ghana.
This was revealed by the Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie at a press briefing held on Sunday, March 15, 2020.
“Let me give just a brief about details of the various cases that we have had with respect to the contacts that we are managing. First four cases, contact tracing has started. We just confirmed the last two cases over the night and we have started mechanisms to identify the contacts. With case 1, we have identified two contacts and all the contacts are being traced. With case 2, the Norwegian, we have identified 107 contacts and we have started processes to follow up on 68 of them. We will be in touch with the rest by the close of today.”
“Case 3 is a student and for now, we have identified 12 contacts. We are still in the process to work assiduously to get more. And with the last case, the place of residence is Obuasi. Currently, we have identified 30 contacts and all the 30 contacts are being followed up,” he said.
This was after he announced that four more cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Ghana, bringing the total figure to six.
On Friday, March 13 2020, the first two cases were confirmed as COVID-19. They reported in two regions. One each from Ashanti Region and the other in the Greater Accra Region.
“The first is a 56-year old man, a Ghanaian who returned from a trip in the UK on the 4th of March. He stayed in UK for 10 days and came back. He developed symptoms on the 12th of March and reported to a hospital in Obuasi. The case definition met the case of that of suspected COVID-19. Samples were taken and sent to the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) and within a short time, the lab reported that this is another confirmed case of COVID-19 within the country.”
“The second is a woman, a Ghanaian student. She travelled out to the USA. Stayed there for about 10 days. She came back on the 9th of March and on 13th of March, started having symptoms…Samples were taken to Noguchi on 13th and the same day we had a report from Noguchi that confirmed this as another case of COVID-19.”
Second cases on March 14
Dr. Badu Sarkodie announced that the two additional cases were of two Ghanaian males aged 42, and 41 who travelled into the country this month.
So far, no contacts have been traced to these last two, as they have now started processes to trace them.
Travellers will not be allowed into the country
Also at the press briefing, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed that travellers from coronavirus-hit countries with cases exceeding 200 will not be allowed in the Ghanaian jurisdiction.
He also disclosed that travels to Ghana are strongly discouraged following the outbreak.
“All travels to Ghana is at this stage strongly discouraged until further notice. Any traveller except for Ghanaian citizens who has been to a country that has recorded at least 200 cases of COVID-19 will not be allowed into the Ghanaian jurisdiction. Airlines are instructed to not allow such persons into the jurisdiction,” he said.
