Coronavirus: Ghana sets up management centers

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Ghana’s Ridge and Tema General Hospitals have been named as initial case management centres in Accra following the China-virus outbreak across the globe.

The Ministry said in a press release that Regional Directors across the country have also been instructed to designate holding or treatment centres in their respective regions.

“We are preparing to designate more centres in the highly populated areas of Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Also, Case Management Teams have been activated to manage cases at the designated national centres and are currently receiving orientation on the management of possible coronavirus cases, the statement said.

Mysterious New virus

The outbreak of what some are calling “a mysterious new virus” is rapidly spreading after originating in the central city of Wuhan, China.

The Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that the official account of known cases has jumped nearly 60 per cent overnight and the death toll has exceeded 100 for the first time.

China said on Tuesday that 106 people had died from the disease and is spreading across the country.

The previous death toll, on Monday, was 81.

The number of confirmed cases increased from 2,835 on Monday to 4,515 on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission. The youngest confirmed case is a 9-month-old girl in Beijing.

Ivory Coast and Germany have also reported suspected cases of the virus.

Risk Communication

Ghana’s Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, said in a press release on the country’s preparedness that, social media messages have been developed for the general public. “These are aimed at informing the public on the disease and to inculcate the necessary preventive measures,” he said in the statement.

Coronavirus, a virus similar to the SARS pathogen, has claimed 106 lives since emerging in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and spread around the world.

At least 16 countries have confirmed cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus, as of January 28.

More than 4,000 people have been infected across China, the bulk of them in and around Wuhan.

Most of the 106 who have died were in that region, but officials have confirmed multiple deaths elsewhere, including the first in the capital Beijing.

By Jonathan Ofori, Daily Mail GH