Stay calm and continue to take preventive actions

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has repeated its call to Ghanaians to stay calm and continue to take preventive actions as the flu-like coronavirus, rapidly spreads to more other countries.

Dr Anthony Ofosu, Deputy Director-General of the Service, said they had strengthened the country’s emergency response to the outbreak, which is leading the world into, what the World Health Organization (WHO) has described as “unchartered territory”.

There has not been any confirmed case of the virus infection in Ghana. All 41 suspected cases reported so far, have proven negative.

He was addressing the annual performance review of the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate in Kumasi.

GHS is counselling everybody to regularly and thoroughly clean their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.

They should also maintain a safe distance between them and anyone who is coughing or sneezing among other preventive measures.

Authorities have confirmed more than 92,000 cases of the virus worldwide of which more than 80,000 are in China.

More than 3,000 people have died globally, the vast majority in China.

New infections and deaths have been declining in recent weeks in China, the epicentre of an outbreak due to quarantine measures. The second-largest economy on Wednesday reported 38 more deaths but a fall in fresh cases for a third consecutive day.

The worst-hit country outside China remains South Korea which on Wednesday reported 516 new confirmed infections, bringing the total to 5,328. The country's death toll stands at 33.

Dr Ofosu said everything was being done to prevent and protect the country from the virus.

They had strengthened, monitoring and surveillance, screening at the entry points, activated rapid response teams across the regions and designated isolation centres.

The Deputy Director-General announced the revision of the National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan with support from the WHO country office.

He added that half of the 10, 000 personal protective kits procured by the Health Ministry for distribution had been delivered.

“Improving quality of care through strengthening supportive supervision and peer review”, was the theme chosen for the review meeting.

Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, the Ashanti Regional Health Director, pledged the readiness of the region to deal with any outbreak of the virus.

WHO, said on Monday that the outbreak could still be contained.

The United Nations specialized body’s Chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the risk of coronavirus spreading was now very high at a “global level”.

He said outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan were the greatest concern, but that there was evidence surveillance methods were working in South Korea, the worst affected country outside China, and the epidemic could be contained there.

“We are in uncharted territory - we have never seen before a respiratory pathogen that is capable of community transmission but at the same time which can also be contained with the right measures,” he told a news briefing in Geneva.