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The two suspected cases of coronavirus in Ghana have all tested negative, officials of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research confirmed Thursday.
A virologist at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), Dr. Kofi Bonney said the two foreign nationals – a Chinese and Argentine do not have the deadly virus originating from China.
The two were quarantined at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital when they reported for a medical check showing signs of suspected coronavirus.
He has since urged Ghanaians to remain calm.
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose above 28,000 by the end of Tuesday, and Hong Kong reported its first death from the virus, which has killed at least 565, all but two of them in mainland China.
Japan said Wednesday that 10 people on a cruise ship with about 3,700 passengers and crew aboard tested positive for the virus, and the health minister said everyone is likely to be kept on the ship for two weeks.
Isolation wards, however, stands ready at identified management centers in the nation’s capital Accra as part of measures to control a possible outbreak.
Ghana’s Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu told the media that a total of GHc2.5million ($455,000) has been committed to the fight.
The disease was confirmed in the Chinese city of Wuhan on January 7, 2020. Cases have since been confirmed in other Asian countries, Europe and the United States.
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from common cold to MERS virus that is the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus and SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
On a poor continent like Africa where healthcare capacity is limited, early detection of any outbreak will be crucial.
The fear is great that a spreading epidemic of coronavirus infections will be hard to contain in countries where health systems are already overburdened with Ebola, Malaria, Measles and other deadly diseases.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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