Eighteen people who came into contact with a coronavirus patient in the Agona East District of the Central Region have tested negative.
The woman who tested positive, who is in her early fifties, is said to have entered Ghana from Niger through illegal routes, after President Akufo-Addo closed Ghana’s entry points to check the spread of the coronavirus disease.
Dennis Armah-Frempong, district chief executive (DCE) for Agona East, who disclosed this to the media at Nsaba, said the woman was admitted to an isolation centre after testing positive on 27 April, but has since tested negative.
“The good news is that the woman and all 18 people she interacted with on arrival in Agona East have all tested negative,” he said.
Check the spread
Armah-Frempong said the COVID-19 team in Agona East was anxiously waiting for the last test, which will be conducted in the next couple of weeks by the Noguchi Memorial Institute to ascertain the next line of action.
He dispelled fears among citizens and assured them that frontline health workers are on top of the disease outbreak. They are working round the clock to check the spread of COVID-19 in the district, he said.
Armah-Frempong, who is also chairman of the COVID-19 Risk Health Emergency Team, said that the negative results received after active contact tracing notwithstanding, the team would not relax.
The coronavirus pandemic is real, he told the chiefs and people of Agona East. He urged them to endeavour to observe the social distancing and other hygiene restrictions.
The DCE said the assembly has supplied more face masks, Veronica buckets, tissue paper, alcohol-based hand sanitiser and other items to people free of charge in line with efforts to support the fight against the spread of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 team has also intensified its education campaign in the various communities in the district to inform the people about the dangers posed by disease.
Protection
The DCE urged people in the district to follow, to the letter, the health restrictions pronounced by the president and the Ghana Health Service to help mitigate the spread of the disease.
Armah-Frempong expressed appreciation to Stephen Amoaning, a native of Agona Nsaba who donated masks and other PPE to the assembly for onward distribution to local people, to protect them from contracting the virus.
The DCE praised the paramount chief of the Nsaba Traditional Area, Osabarima Bishop Boappiah Afriyie III, queen mothers, divisional chiefs and sub-chiefs for their sterling roles in pursuing the crusade against the disease.
He commended the whole Muslim community in the district for observing social distancing and other protocols during the just-ended celebrations of Eid ul-Fitr.
