The Special Advisor on Health at the Presidency, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare says government is working closely with neighbouring countries and authorities at the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that Ghana is protected from a coronavirus outbreak.
He said Ghana’s preparations so far are satisfactory and the country is determined to ensure that should there be a case in the country, it shouldn’t go undetected.
“Everybody in the Sub-region including Senegal which has got two cases is alert. We are sharing ideas among ourselves in the ECOWAS Sub-region, the African Sub-region and the whole world.”
“We are working together with the WHO to make sure that we don’t miss anything that could come into the country, which is the most important thing…Once we see even a single case which I’m hoping we don’t get, it means we are doing the right thing,” the former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service said on Eyewitness News on Wednesday.
President Akufo-Addo on Wednesday paid visits to the Kotoka International Airport, the Tema General Hospital and the Greater Accra Regional Hospital to assess the measures put in place by the country’s health authorities to prevent or contain any case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The President said he was satisfied with the arrangements made so far.
Ghana has not recorded any case of the novel coronavirus as about 40 suspected cases of the disease have turned out to be negative after tests.
Surveillance system activated
Dr. Nsiah-Asare says the national surveillance system has been triggered as emergency response teams have been put in place.
“In every part of this country, we have activated our surveillance system. The response team has also been activated. We are doing case management training, education and a lot of risk management,” he said.
100-bed quarantine facility to be built in two weeks
In a related development, the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu while answering questions in Parliament on Ghana’s preparedness announced that the new 100-bed capacity quarantine facility will be set up in two weeks at a “remotely located” place.
He said another facility has already been established.
He, however, did not give details about where the facilities would be located.
He added that dedicated communication lines have been put in place to enable the public easily report suspected cases.
“Dedicated contact lines have been given to the general public to report suspected cases of Covid-19. Phone lines are 0552222004, 0552222005, 05094977100, 0558439868 and 0800110555. These are all toll-free numbers. Alternatively, text messages can be sent to the shortcode 199,” he said.