Ghana Panics After Nigeria Recorded First Corona Virus Infection

Ghana is in a State of panic after its kissing cousin, Nigeria, reported the detection of its first case of corona virus infection.

Health Authorities this morning held a crunch meeting in Accra while Parliament may be preparing to summon the Minister of Health for an update over the country’s state of preparedness.

Under the atmosphere of sudden fear, the Minority is also demanding that Government beefs up emergency response which many observe say is really nothing to write home about.

Authorities in the health sector, including the Health Ministry and the Ghana Health Service reportedly held an emergency meeting today in the national capital.

WhatsUp News cannot verify the details that were discussed but there have since been reports that the meeting centered on a review of Ghana’s state of preparedness which led to conclusion that the country’s state of preparedness is shambolic.

Indeed the World Health Organization has warned that Ghc35million that government has put up to fund emergency response is inadequate and has a shortfall of at least Ghc4million.

There have also been warnings that frontline health staff would be very exposed in case of an escalation of infections to Ghana because of inadequacy in protective logistics made available.

The current panic has been a sudden up-tick for a government which is seen to have for a very long time, been lackadaisical about the deadly viral outbreak. This morning, Minority Leader asked Parliament to summon the Health Minister for a review on Ghana’s state of preparedness.

A Chinese journalist in the country, Wen Jiao Gui, has observed that even though the government has installed scanners at the Tema Port and the Kotoka International Airport, her personal experience is that the ports are very porous.

The country has been in a state of panic since Nigeria with whom Ghana shares close trade ties, announced it has registered its first case.

The Federal Ministry of Health in a Twitter post said the case was recorded in the commercial capital, Lagos. A statement signed by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, siad an Italian who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan, to Lagos  on February 25, 2020, was suspected to have contracted the disease.

Mr. Osagie said he (Italian) was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

According to him, the patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos

It is the first case to be confirmed in West Africa since the outbreak in China on December 31, 2019.