Covid-19: Canada closes its High Commission in Ghana

The Canadian High Commission is the latest to shutdown its Ghana offices in the capital Accra, following the Coronavirus outbreak.

“In doing our part to #flattenthecurve & prevent the spread of #COVID19, our offices are closed to the general public until further notice,” the High Commission posted on Twitter on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

It is gathered that key officials at the High Commission will be leaving the country in the coming days.

The country joins two others; Norway and The Netherlands —which have halted their operations in the West African country.

The Norwegian Embassy, which shares same building with the Netherlands Embassy closed down their offices, after one of their key staff tested positive of the deadly Coronavirus.

Officials said the patient is being monitored and is in stable condition.

Covid-19 cases in Ghana now 7

Ghana recorded its 7th case of the Covid-19 disease on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

A tweet from the Ghana Health Service said, “This afternoon (17 March 2020); we have received report from NMIMR that indicated one (1) more confirmed case as positive for COVID-19 in Greater Accra Region.”

The patient is a 35-year-old male, and a Ghanaian citizen who returned to Accra from France within the past 14 days.

Ghana tightens travel restrictions

In an attempt to stop the importation of the virus into Ghana, Government directed airline operators not to bring into Ghana travellers from countries that have recorded 200 cases or more of COVID-19.

“All travels to Ghana is at this stage strongly discouraged until further notice. Any traveller except for Ghanaian citizens who has been to a country that has recorded at least 200 cases of COVID-19 will not be allowed into the Ghanaian jurisdiction. Airlines are instructed to not allow such persons into the jurisdiction,” said Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, when he addressed the press recently.

Two Italians stopped from entering Ghana

Immigration officials at the Kotoka International Airport on Monday, March 16, 2020 barred two Italian nationals from entering Ghana.

The two arrived via an Air France operated aircraft which landed in Accra.

The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong who made this known said the decision was in line with the government’s travel advisory following the COVID-19 outbreak.

“…There were two Italians who were coming from the epicentre and as we got the confirmation of the details, even though the aircraft was in the air, we had to make arrangements at the airport to ensure they do not get off the aircraft and they have been returned to their original destination.”

“So although we are yet to hit the 1 pm deadline today, some soft enforcement has already commenced at our ports entry.”