Six (6) more suspected cases of the Novel Coronavirus in Ghana have all tested negative, that’s the word of Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu.
This brings the total number of suspected cases in the country to fifteen (15), all of which have tested negative, ABC News can confirm.
According to a press release by the Health Ministry on Wednesday, February 12, Government has engaged key stakeholders in the health sector including regional health directors, CEOs of Teaching hospitals and reviewed “their preparedness for emergency response” to the virus following the latest development.
Currently, close to 1,355 persons have been killed by the virus with nearly 60,000 persons infected by the virus in China alone, a report by Aljazeera has indicated.
The Minister assured that despite these developments, the country’s emergency preparedness and response system is ready to deal with any possible situation of coronavirus in the country.
“The Ministry of Health once again wishes to brief the general public and provide updates in respect to developments on the Novel Coronavirus infection as promised in the last press release. We further wish to reassure the nation that out preparations in terms of emergency preparedness response and surveillance have been heightened and proven to be effective and efficient. A s a country, we have encountered 15 suspected cases as of today. Samples have been taken from all of them and sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research for tests and results have been negative
“Key stakeholder engagements have been extensive and we have met all regional directors of health services, chief executive officers of the Teaching Hospitals, and reviewed their preparedness for emergency response following our alert to them and the Ministry is satisfied with preparations made across the regions so far. Disease surveillance within the country and at the points of entry has been heightened, as we work in collaboration with the Ghana Immigration Service and other Port Authorities,” portions of the statement read.
As part of measures to prevent any citizen from contracting the deadly virus, the Health Minister advised that all ‘non-essential’ travels to China should be put on hold.
Below is the full statement: