Opoku Prempeh ‘not sure’ he has fully recovered from coronavirus

Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Manhyia South Constituency Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh says he is not so sure whether he has fully recovered from the coronavirus infection he contracted or not.

He, however, believes he has recovered enough to resume work.

Dr Opoku Prempeh was one of the high profile ministers to have contracted the disease.

He was admitted at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), where his case was managed.

Sharing his experience on TV3‘s COVID-19, 360 with Berla Mundi on Thursday, August 13, Dr Opoku Prempeh described his situation as “horrible”.

“It was an experience I have said repeatedly that I don’t even wish for my enemy.”

He said it was after he experienced the disease that he came to the reality that, indeed, coronavirus “is here with us”.

For him, Ghanaians must take all the safety protocols seriously as “it is not a situation I would want anybody to get into”.

He recounts that despite feeling a little bit of malaise about 10 days before he was hospitalised, he got tested for the virus upon advice from close associates but the result came out negative.

But he said after returning from his acclamation as the Manhyia South Parliamentary Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), he decided to voluntarily take some tests at the UGMC, having gone there to visit a relative admitted for COVID-19.

It was on his way back that the doctors told him that one of the tests taken, a CT scan, was “bad enough” for him to stay home.

He said the doctor told him that “even though you don’t have so-called symptoms of COVID-19, your CT test is bad enough that we will need to admit you”.

“And your CT looked like COVID-19 even though your test is negative.”

He said he was hesitant initially but he would have died if he had not gone.

“I was breathing like crazy. So, we escaped death in seconds. It would have been fatal.”

He said he was there for two weeks, during which same period he heard about the death of the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie.

Dr Opoku Prempeh confessed that he had the belief that he would survive after that close shave with death.