The Netherlands Embassy in Ghana has been “closed down until further notice”.
This development was revealed in a Twitter post by the Embassy today, Saturday, March 14, 2020.
Citing the reason for the shutdown, the Embassy said, “Following the confirmation by the Norwegian Embassy that one of its staff has tested positive for Covid-19, and given that Norwegian and Netherlands Embassies share the same building, the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana is closed down until further notice.”
Norwegian Embassy shut down
The Norwegian Embassy in Ghana shut down its operations on Friday after one of its staff tested positive to coronavirus.
“The Embassy of Norway can confirm that one of our colleagues has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The person is in quarantine and the Embassy is in close dialogue with Ghana Health Service,” the Embassy made the announcement via its Facebook page.
“Routine contact tracing has commenced. All staff are also in quarantine, and we are fully committed to assist with containment,” the statement added.
“The Embassy is closed to the public until further notice, but staff are operating from home. We are thankful for the care and assistance offered by Ghana’s health authorities and WHO Ghana, and also for the compassion showed. We urge everybody to follow the preventive measures issued by the WHO and Ghanaian authorities,” the statement added.
Ghana’s first cases
In an emergency press briefing by the Information Ministry on Thursday night, March 12, 2020, the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu announced that Ghana had confirmed two cases of the novel coronavirus.
The two cases according to the Minister, tested positive after laboratory tests from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research.
The cases were reported as ‘imported cases’ as both individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey.
The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, a day after the reports of the first cases confirmed that the two patients who tested positive for coronavirus in Ghana include a Ghanaian.
He said the patients arrived in Ghana about a week ago from Turkey and Norway.
“One of the two people who tested positive for coronavirus came from Norway, the other came from Turkey. One is a foreigner, the other is a Ghanaian based abroad who returned to the country,” he said.
The aftermath
On the back of the coronavirus outbreak in Ghana, the Ghana International School has been temporarily closed down.
The Church of Pentecost has directed all its branches nationwide to educate their congregants on measures to curb the spread of the virus.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has ordered all heads of schools to suspend public activities until further notice.
The United Nations (UN) office in Ghana has asked its staff to work from home after a colleague tested positive for the virus.
Authorities of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have announced an indefinite suspension of mass gathering activities.