Accra, May 31, GNA – Thirty-five Ghanaians who were recently brought home from Kuwait by the Government have tested positive to the new Coronavirus after an initial test.
They represent 15.15 per cent out of the 231 returnees, the Ghana Health Service announced Sunday in its daily update on the COVID-19 designated portal.
On Saturday, May 23, 2020 the deportees arrived in Ghana after an agreement with the Kuwaiti Government.
Before their arrival, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah announced at a media briefing that the Government granted a special permit for their admission in line with Immigration and Health regulations to prevent a threat to the Ghanaian population.
The trip, he said, was in line with exemptions granted for the special evacuation of foreign nationals during the border closure period.
All the deportees, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said, would be mandatorily quarantined and tested for COVID-19 immediately they arrived.
Those who test positive would be supported with treatment, while those who would test negative would still be in quarantine for 14 days, after which they would be tested for a second negative result before their release, he said.
The cost of quarantine and treatment is being borne by the Government.
Meanwhile, the GHS has explained that the 36th person to succumb to COVID-19 was a 93-year- old man.
He was a known hypertensive and also had prostate cancer.
The GHS said he was admitted at a hospital in Accra after he complained of difficulty in breathing and having a cough.
He was, subsequently, isolated at an emergency room after he was suspected of having the virus.
The Service said samples for COVID-19 test, which were taken on May 26, 2020, returned positive.
Ghana’s COVID-19 case count now stands at 7,881 after 113 new infections were reported in an update on May 31.
The country’s recoveries also increased to 2841, after 301 new recoveries were recorded, since the last update on Saturday, May 30.
GNA