10 Covid-19 Guinean patients to be repatriated

The 10 Guineans who have tested positive for the coronavirus in Ghana will be repatriated to their country of origin for treatment, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Information Minister has said.

The foreigners who have been in the county for 11 days were part of a group of people who were put on mandatory self-isolation after they arrived in the Northern Region town of Tamale through Burkina Faso and Togo.

According to Mr Oppong Nkrumah, the Guineans came into the country before all land borders were closed.

“The regional security brief from the Northern Region, Tamale is that these persons, as part of the surveillance, were brought to the attention of the joint regional security and health team and were asked to self-isolate eleven days ago and were tested.

“The test results came in this morning (Sunday morning). The Ghanaian and other West African authorities are completing arrangements so that they can be repatriated to their countries of origin for treatment. So they will not be treated within our jurisdiction,” he added.

Ghana’s Covid-19 cases have increased to 152 from 141, the Ghana Health Service has confirmed.

As of Saturday, March 28, the Ghana Health Service said a total of 2,519 persons have been tested for Covid-19 in the country.

Among the tested, “1,276 (50.7%) were persons under mandatory quarantine with 1,243 (49.3%) from routine surveillance activities. Among all 2,519 persons tested, 141 tested positive representing 5.6%.

“Among persons under mandatory quarantine, 79 representing 6.2% tested positive. Among samples tested from routine surveillance, 62 representing 5.0% tested positive.”

While two people have recovered from the disease, five have died.

Meanwhile, Greater Accra, Ashanti and other parts of the Central region are preparing for a partial lockdown.

The lockdown which will take effect at 1:00 am, Monday will exclude essential service providers, members of the Executive arm of government, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, senior staffers, special assistants, media among others.