‘Two Ghanaians under surveillance’ – 11 things we know about two suspected cases of Coronavirus

The travel history of two foreigners has been revealed after they were quarantined at Ghana’s major referral hospital, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital,l in a suspected case of coronavirus.

A 25-year old Argentine and a Chinese national were brought to Korle-Bu by a national coordinating team after they complained of cold, body pains and high temperature.

Coronavirus: Korle Bu records two suspected cases

A doctor at the Korle-Bu,  Dr. Philip Amo, and the Head of Disease Surveillance at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Asiedu Beko, has revealed their travel history in a Joy FM interview monitored by theghanareport.com.

• The Chinese lives at Osu in Accra. He has been moving in and out of China since September.

 

• He has also been to Ivory Coast.

 

• His Argentine counterpart arrived in Ghana from Shanghai on January 24 and stayed with the Chinese national.

 

• They both left for Sao Tome and Principe on January 25, 2020, and returned on February 1, 2020.

 

• On February 3, 2020, they complained about “constitutional symptoms” such as chest tightness, nasal discharge, a mild cold, lower back pain and bodily pains.

 

• They were brought to Korle-Bu on Thursday 3 pm for tests to rule out Meningitis which was the initially suspected sickness.

 

• Coronavirus was suspected because a Chinese national is involved.

 

• Samples were sent to Noguchi Memorial Research Center on the same day at about 6 pm.

 

• The two suspects look okay. They were “sitting and chatting” in a holding area at the Emergency and Accident Center.

 

• Two Ghanaian health professionals who came into contact with the foreigners have gone into self-isolation.

• The Emergency and Accident Center has been locked down, the doctor said.

The life-threatening disease, which can spread through saliva, has killed at least 565 people and infected more than 28,300 globally.

The death toll of the outbreak which emanated from a seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, has climbed to 500 with 24, 300 confirmed cases worldwide.

The majority of the fatalities are from mainland China forcing a lockdown of cities in the Hubei Province. Chinese authorities, with aid from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are battling to contain the pneumonia-like infection which has no vaccine and cure.