Coronavirus: Chiefs in Ghana introduce fist and elbow-shakes [Video]

Some paramount chiefs in Ghana at an official meeting Friday resorted to the new wave of “elbow-shaking” to greet each other as part of a campaign to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

In a video that went viral, President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV is seen elbow-shaking with other notable individuals during a meeting held in Kumasi on Friday, March 13, 2020.

“So you could see hand sanitizers and other protective materials placed on the tables of these chiefs as a precautionary measure,” an official at the National House of Chiefs told Dailymailgh.com.

Key among their discourse is a petition submitted by the Inter-Party Resistance Against the Voter Register who have been mounting pressure on Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) not to compile a new voter register.

It is expected that the House will be meeting the EC in the coming days to deliberate on the matter.

Ghana records first Covid-19 cases

On Thursday night, the Ghana Health Service in an emergency press conference announced that a Norwegian diplomat in Ghana and a Ghanaian from Turkey are the carriers of the coronavirus recorded in Ghana.

Sources say the Ghanaian came in from Turkey, having gone there for an assignment with an international agency while the Norwegian, appears to have returned to Ghana after helping organise President Akufo-Addo’s recent visit to the European country.

An amount of $100 million has also been committed to contain the outbreak.

Many public institutions have also initiated steps to prevent the virus from spreading.

Death toll passes 5000

More than 5,000 people have died around the world after testing positive for coronavirus, AFP reports.

Iran announced another 85 deaths today, pushing its total number of fatalities to 514 amid 11,364 confirmed cases.

The real number of cases might be even higher, as questions have been raised about authorities’ transparency.

In Italy, the number of people who had died from the virus reached 1,000 on Thursday with some 15,000 cases confirmed.

China has recorded more than 3,000 deaths and over 80,000 people as testing positive for the virus.

More than 64,000 people in the country have now recovered, according to the latest information recorded by Johns Hopkins University.