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Ghana Health Service allay fears of a suspected coronavirus case in Ashanti Region

By Mutala Yakubu
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The Ghana Health Service has allayed fears that there is a suspected case of coronavirus in the Ashanti Region.

The suspect showed symptoms of the virus in Kumasi over the weekend shortly after his return from Germany where over a hundred cases have been recorded.

But an emergency test conducted on him tested negatives which brings the number of suspected cases in Ghana to 30 all testing negative according to the Ghana Health Service.

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Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Badu Sarkodie confirmed to Joy News.

"There was a suspected case of coronavirus in the Ashanti Region during the weekend, quickly test were taken and within a matter of 12 hours, we had a report indicating it was negative meaning we do not have any case of coronavirus in Ghana. The total number of cases tested come close to 30 and all are negative""Some people were picked at the airport with symptoms that looked like the virus, we took them in and run a test on them and all turned out to be negative".

He also confirmed that even though the person has died it is not yet known what caused the death.

"The priority here was the coronavirus which could be a public issue, we tested and he proved negative, as at now, the cause of his death is not yet known".

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye has, however, said calls for President Akufo-Addo to be quarantine is not necessary.

There are calls from some legislatures for the President to undergo detailed checks and quarantine upon return from his trip abroad in the wake of the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Europe.

The number of people killed worldwide by the coronavirus has exceeded 3,000, as China reported 42 more deaths.
More than 90% of the total deaths are in Hubei, the Chinese province where the virus emerged late last year.

But there have also been deaths in 10 other countries, including more than 50 in Iran and more than 30 in Italy.

Worldwide, there have been almost 90,000 confirmed cases, with the numbers outside China growing faster than inside China.

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But most patients have only mild symptoms, the World Health Organization said on Sunday, and the death rate appears to be between 2% and 5%.

 

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