The government of Ghana is considering the evacuation of Ghanaians from China, in the wake of the outbreak of coronavirus in that country, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health (MoH) has disclosed.
He said discussions were ongoing and evacuation would only take place if it had become necessary.
Briefing journalists in Accra yesterday on Ghana’s preparedness to prevent the outbreak in Ghana, Mr Agyeman-Manu said there was no reported case of any Ghanaian in China being infected by the disease.
He said Ghana’s embassy in China had provided preventive materials to students who have registered with the embassy.
There is growing concern among some Ghanaians for the immediate evacuation of Ghanaians living in China, but the minister noted that the Chinese government has advised against panic evacuations and in cases where a country wants to evacuate its nationals out of another country, this needed to be done in accordance with international protocol.
Mr Agyeman-Manu told the journalists that a number of initiatives including the allocation of GH₵2.5 million as a start up towards the implementation of the initial response for national preparedness plan and a process to procure 10,000 pieces of personal protective equipment for the use of all frontline workers at health facilities and various points of entry.
Additionally, the sector minister said that measures had been put in place to enhance screening for fever using walk-through thermometers and non-contact thermometers at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and the use of a health declaration form to collect information from travellers to assess their risk profile.
Mr Agyeman-Manu noted that Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) has demonstrated capacity to conduct tests for confirmation while four health facilities-Tema General Hospital, Ga East Hospital, Ridge Hospital, and Greater Accra Regional and Police Hospitals have been designated for case management.
Importantly, the minister said health personnel would deepen media engagement in addition to the use of social media platform such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for information sharing and dissemination.
In the area of coordination and public health emergency management, he said the national technical coordination committee made up of experts from the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, the World Health Orgainsation (WHO) Veterinary Services Department of Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), NMIMR, Ghana Immigration Service, security agencies and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have demonstrated preparedness to prevent the spread of the disease.
He said coronavirus had no cure or vaccine as it is spread through droplets, coughing, and sneezing, close personal unprotected contact with infected person with fever, coughing, difficulty in breathing and sore throat as common symptoms.
Mr Agyeman-Manu advised the general public to wash their hands regularly with soap and water, use of alcohol to hand rub where available, and keep a distance of at least one meter from a person showing signs of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.
He said when one comes into contact with a sick person or with a potentially infected surfaces or objects, one is advised from touching their eyes, nose or mouth without washing their hands.
He urged the people to seek early treatment at the nearest facility if infection is suspected, if symptoms occur or upon advice by a health worker.
As of yesterday, more than 20,000 cases (20,604) have been reported from China and 26 other countries and the death toll stands at 427.
Since the outbreak of the disease, several countries including the United States of America, United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have evacuated their citizens from China.
The United States for instance has imposed temporal travel ban on persons from countries infected by the coronavirus.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
