All staff of the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana have been quarantined as one of them has tested positive of the deadly coronavirus on Thursday.
The Embassy was forced to shut down Friday until further notice as health authorities move in to contain a possible spread of the coronavirus which has infected more than 118,000 people and killed close to 4,300 worldwide
It said in a statement Friday that staff of the Embassy “are operating from home”, noting the infected “person is in quarantine”.
“All staff are also in quarantine, and we are fully committed to assist with containment,” the statement assured.
Details of the infected person who recently arrived in the country from Norway has not been given but reports emerged Friday that the person is a top official.
The decision to close down the Embassy, the officials explained, was taken after a “close dialogue” with Ghana Health Service which has since Thursday begun routine contact tracing of following the confirmation of first two cases of covid-19 in Ghana on March 12, 2020.
The Embassy expressed appreciation to Ghana’s health authorities and WHO for “the care and assistance offered” them.
“We urge everybody to follow the preventive measures issued by the WHO and Ghanaian authorities,” it appealed.
Two persons; a Norwegian and a Ghanaian, tested positive of the deadly novel coronavirus Thursday, the first cases to be recorded in Ghana since the global outbreak of the pandemic early this year.
Both patients, according to the Ghana’s Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, are in stable condition and currently being kept in isolation.
The infected Ghanaian said to be an employee of the UNDP Country office in Ghana, returned to Ghana from Turkey recently.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana