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9 suspected coronavirus cases prove negative – NMIMR

Ghana has not recorded any coronavirus case as tests conducted on nine suspected cases by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, (NMIMR), so far, have all proven negative.

According to the Ministry of Health, these cases included those of the two foreign nationals, who reported to the Korle­Bu Teaching Hospital on Wednesday with some suspicious symptoms.

The ministry and the Ghana Health Service disclosed these in a statement issued yesterday to give information on the status of the 2019­nCoV disease at both the national and global levels.

In the case of the two foreign nationals, the Chief Executive Officer of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Dr Daniel Asare, told Ghanaian Times in an interview that the two friends were diagnosed of different ailments which he declined to disclose, although he said they would be treated.

Due to the outcome of the test results, he said, the duo ; a Chinese and Argentine, who arrived at the hospital on Wednesday evening exhibiting suspicious symptoms, would no longer be quarantined at the facility.

The two foreign nationals reportedly lived together but travelled on different dates from China to Ghana and had gone to test for meningitis before they were quarantined for a suspected case of coronavirus.

News of a suspected case of coronavirus at the hospital caused fear and panic in the country,  as people took to social media to express fear and pray the test proved negative.

There was  also a reported pandemonium  at the Korle Bu Hospital  amongst health providers due to the lack of well resourced holding  bay for such patients.

However, Dr Asare dispelled pandemonium claims, saying training was ongoing at the hospital and polyclinics to teach staffs and health workers to handle such situation when any is reported.

He said the hospital was not part of the designated hospitals which patients of corona virus would be detained, and named Ridge and Tema hospital as such special places.

Dr Asare, however, said the Ministry of Health had provided them with protective equipment,  including nose masks, boots and gadget to protect them when dealing with suspected individuals.

According to him, the coronavirus would be difficult to strive in the country due to the weather conditions, and maintained that Ghana was free from the deadly virus.

“The advantage the nation and other African country has is that, we have high temperature and the virus cannot survive in 30°C, but for China, America, Europe and other countries who were having issues of such virus have low temperature due to the winter season,” he said.

Dr Asare however cautioned the citizenry against the virus and urged them to take precautions by not contacting or hugging people who travelled and regularly washing their hands with soap and water.

To prevent fear and panic, he called on the media to be censored on their reportage and also appealed for more systems to be in place to detect the virus within six hours.

Dr Asare stated that people who were showing fluid, cold and fever symptoms should be rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment.

The China coronavirus, first detected on December 31, 2019, has killed at least 427 people with the number of cases reaching more than 30,000 globally, according to the World Health Organisation.

Now in every Chinese province, the virus has spread to dozens of countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, UAE, France, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia and South Korea.

The first time a suspected case of the virus was reported in West Africa was Ivory Coast but it also tested negative.

BY JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE

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