Coronavirus: Let’s brace for more cases – Head of Noguchi warns
The Director-General of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Professor Kwabena Annan, has warned that the country should brace itself for more cases of the coronavirus.
Speaking on GHOne TV Tuesday night, Professor Annan warns that “the way the situation is, we should expect more cases”.
His comments come after Ghana recorded its seventh (7th) case of the novel coronavirus disease, formally known as COVID-19.
According to Professor Annan, the centre has the resources to deal with limited cases and hopes the contact tracing does not increase the number of cases. He says should this happen, the Noguchi memorial institute will face serious challenges in dealing with the large numbers.
“We’re okay for now but we need to hope for not too much expansion of the contact situation so that the escalation of persons does not become too much. Because, if it gets to the community type of thing, like it’s happening in some countries, that will become challenging for us, and we’ll need more resources,” he says.
Ghana recorded its seventh case of the coronavirus on March 17, 2020.
The patient is a 35-year-old Ghanaian male who returned to the country from France, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) revealed on Tuesday.
Its Director-General, Dr Patrick Aboagye, says the case was detected in the Greater Accra Region and confirmed after further tests at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).
Ghana Health Service warns of more cases
The Ghana Health Service is the latest to paint a gloomy picture of the country’s preparedness towards the coronavirus.
The service (GHS) has also warned of the possibility that Ghana will record more cases of coronavirus.
Its Director of public health, Dr Badu Sarkodie, said since the pandemic is still raging on and the country does not have a robust health system more cases will be recorded.
“So while the pandemic is not over and generally our health system is not strong, potentially there is a risk we could get more cases,” he told Morning Starr host Francis Abban Wednesday.
So far, over 160 cases have been tested for COVID-19.
The website of the Ghana Health Service states that it has traced 350 persons who came into contact with the initial six cases.
As part of efforts to contain the spread of the disease in Ghana, the government has enforced a travel ban on countries that have recorded over 200 cases of COVID-19.
Two Italian nationals were Tuesday refused entry into the country.
The two, according to the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, were not allowed to disembark their flights.
Over 200,000 cases have been recorded across the world, with 8,010 deaths, as of Wednesday.