Two cases of the deadly coronavirus disease have been recorded in Ghana.
They were confirmed after tests run by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research on Thursday, March 12.
The patients are said to be from Norway and Turkey.
A statement issued by the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said the two patients are stable but are being kept in isolation.
“We have initiated processes for contact tracing,” the Minister of Health said in the statement.
The new strain of the virus, which started in the Hubei Province of China, has so far claimed over 4,000 lives.
About 80,000 cases have been recorded worldwide.
Ghana becomes the 12th African country to confirm the viral disease.
So far, West African countries have been hardest hit on the continent after Senegal, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and La Cote d’Ivoire recorded cases prior to Ghana’s.
“I wish to assure all Ghanaians that the Government of Ghana together with all health partners will continue to work assiduously to ensure the situation is contained,” Mr Agyeman-Manu said in the statement.
Ghanaians are still advised to take preventive measures such as regularly washing hands with soap under running water, avoiding handshakes and keeping a distance of at least two meters from a person with fever.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana