Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health
Service (GHS), Dr Badu Sarkodie has revealed that one person who showed
symptoms of the deadly coronavirus died in Kumasi over the weekend, though he
tested negative for the Covid-19 test.
The deceased according to Dr Badu Sarkodie, arrived in Ghana from Germany and reported of a condition that mimicked the Covid-19; but an emergency test on him proved that he was free of the virus but died later at the hospital.
The revelation is curious because, at least 129 people have
tested positive for Covid-19 in Germany, with the number of cases doubling
yesterday.
More
than half of the cases are in North Rhine-Westphalia, which counts Düsseldorf,
Cologne, and Dortmund as its biggest cities; there are large Ghanaian
communities in all these cities.
Dr
Badu Sarkodie however could not readily tell what killed the person but said
the Ghana Health Service is still investigating the matter with the aid of the
Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research; this is the first death in the 26
suspected cases of the deadly disease that have proven negative in Ghana since
the outbreak.
This comes on the back of pressure group, OccupyGhana’s
seven-point recommendation that could help Ghana position itself to counter the
outbreak of the virus.
In planning for a possible COVID-19 outbreak, OccupyGhana has suggested that Ghana considers the following variables:1 – Surveillance;2 – Containment;3 – Prevention;4 – Testing;5 – Treatment;6 – Coordination; and 7 – Finance.
But Dr Badu Sarkodie says the
country’s points of entry are under constant surveillance to curb the
infiltration of the disease; he spoke with Kwame Sefa kayi on Peace FM on
Monday morning.
No comments