Coronavirus: Deportees tested negative in Kuwait but will still be tested here

Minister of Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda has disclosed that the over 200 Ghanaians deported from Kuwait tested negative before they were flown to Ghana.

The deportees arrived in Ghana on Saturday, May 23 after the government of Ghana agreed to a request by the Kuwaiti government to deport some Ghanaians living in that country illegally.

The Aviation Minister said their samples have been taken and will be tested in Ghana despite results of their tests in Kuwait coming out negative.

“Where we have gotten so far, the test is generally negative, [but] our internal medical experts will conduct another round of test to be sure that they are truly negative,” he told the media

The deportees arrived via a special chattered flight at the cost of the Kuwaiti government.

As Ghana’s borders remain closed to prevent importation of the novel coronavirus, “the government of Ghana granted a special permit for the admission of the said deportees to Ghana,”

Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye outlined the protocols the deportees will go through before they are allowed to go into their homes.

“We are quarantining them for two weeks, do an initial test and those who are positive will be sent to an isolation centre or treatment centre and observe the rest for two weeks and do a retesting before they are discharged. I believe that they may have come in here with some test but knowing how this virus is if you have tested negative today doesn’t mean you will be negative tomorrow. So we are going through our routine protocol to check to make sure they are healthy,” Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said in a Citi News interview.

There are reports that a lot of Ghanaians are stranded in other countries due to the border closure.