Whatsup News can confirm that at least three journalists who had joined President Akufo Addo’s entourage to Norway recently, have been quarantined and probed for coronavirus Covid-19, in what increasingly puts pressure on the President and his cabinet to declare the Coronavirus status.
One of the Journalists, (name withheld) told Whatsup News that he was isolated briefly at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. He had earlier posted that he visited the hospital on appointment for an entirely different matter, but was immediately detained when his travel record was revealed.
Another journalist from the Multimedia Group is also reported to be on Quarantine since his return from Norway.
Yet, President Akufo Addo who had direct interaction with a confirmed coronavirus patient, has continued to make public appearance and had been in contact with several dignitaries since his return from Norway.
While in Norway, President Akufo Addo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botwey, and almost 100 people, including Cabinet Ministers and government advisors, had been in close contact with Grunnar Andreas Holm, the Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana who was recently diagnosed with Coronavirus Covid-19.
There has been no official communication whether the President has been quarantined or tested for Coronavirus as wild speculations fly about. For instance, unconfirmed reports are claiming the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo may have contracted the deadly malaise.
Experts say the deadly Covid-19 virus can stay undetected in a victim for up to 21 days without any symptom. Some of the carriers heal naturally, while the unlucky ones are struck down or killed. However, during the entire gestation period of the virus, carriers are able to transmit the disease to people they interact with.
Since his return around February 28, 2020, President Akufo Addo has attended several high-profile functions, including the Independence Anniversary celebration in Kumasi, where he interacted with important personalities like the ageing former President John Agyekum Kufour, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu, among several others.
Critics have blamed the initial lackadaisical altitude of the Akufo Addo administration towards the disease, including the President, risking infecting himself by travelling to Norway, the second-highest transmission hub of Covid-19 in Europe per capita.
Also, in the face of the rampaging pandemic, the government had refused to restrict flights from high-risk areas such as China and Italy until now.
The global body count of Covid-19 is almost 7,000 people out of about 170,000 infected worldwide.