35 of the 231 Ghanaian deportees from Kuwait have tested positive for COVID-19.
This represents about 15% of the total population after an initial test conducted by the Ghana Health Service upon their arrival last Saturday, 23rd May 2020.
This was confirmed in the Ghana Health Service’s COVID-19 case count update on Sunday, May 31, 2020, which showed that 113 more cases have been confirmed across the country.
Although all the 231 deportees were reported to have tested negative for the virus in Kuwait before being enplaned to Ghana, Ghanaian officials undertook an independent test on all of them upon arrival at the Kotoka International Airport before taking them in for a 14-day mandatory quarantine period.
At the Thursday, May 28, 2020 press briefing, the Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie hinted some of the deportees had tested positive but he did not give an exact number.
“We haven’t finished with the testing of all the people that we took samples from. There are indications that some of them are positive [for COVID-19]…We will follow up on this and when we have the full report, we will share this report appropriately,” Dr. Sarkodie said.
More Ghanaians to return home
Ghana’s borders have remained closed since March 2020, as part of measures to stop the importation of the novel Coronavirus into the country.
There are reports that a lot of Ghanaians are stranded in other countries due to the border closure.
The government is currently granting a special dispensation to allow for some categories of Ghanaians outside the country to return home.
Following a notice from Ghana’s High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, there are indications that an evacuation flight is being arranged to bring home some Ghanaians on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.
Ghana’s COVID-19 case count
Ghana’s COVID-19 case count as of May 31, 2020, is 7,881 positive cases.
The number of recoveries stands at 2,841 with 36 deaths.
