Coronavirus: Ghana confirms one death, closes all borders

Ghana has closed all its borders to human traffic to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The closure, however, will not apply to goods, supplies and cargo, President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a televised address on Saturday.

The country also confirmed its first death from the disease.

“All our borders, that is, by land, sea and air, will be closed to human traffic for the next two weeks beginning midnight on Sunday,” he said.

All travellers arriving in the country before midnight on Sunday will be required to undergo mandatory quarantine and COVID-19 testing.

“Anybody who comes into the country before on Sunday will be mandatorily quarantined and tested for the virus,” he added.

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Ghana’s Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, had earlier disclosed that travellers from high-risk countries with more than 200 cases of the Covid-19 would not be allowed into the country. The only exceptions were Ghanaian citizens and persons with Ghana residence permits.

Confirmed cases

Ghana’s index case of the coronavirus was announced on March 12.

Twenty-one cases have been confirmed as at 21:15 GMT on March 21. One death, of a 61-year-old Lebanese, who had tested positive in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, was announced by the president in his address.

“Unfortunately one person who tested positive for the virus, but had serious underlying health complications, passed away in the early hours of today,” the president said.

He said all others are responding to treatment with eight being managed from their homes in isolation.