By Ndey Sowe
Dr Ahmadou Lamin Samateh- Minister of Health said: “currently, we have 177 people on quarantine in various hotels and they are all safe and sound, and in 6 days the first batch will be out of quarantine if they continue to have no symptoms.
He added that four of their staff are amongst those being quarantined because of their possible exposure to the second case.
“COVID-19 is not a joke and should be taken very seriously by all,” he advised.
This information was disclosed yesterday at a regular press briefing convened by officers of the Ministry of Health on the current situation report of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country, held in Banjul at the office of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
He lamented the continuity of aggressive contact tracing is continuing and requested that anyone who had contact with the Bangladeshi team or has visited Markaz center from 17th to 23rd March 2020 should call the toll free number 1025 for advice, necessary action to protect themselves, their families as well as their communities.
“Testing was done for 33 individuals in various categories”, he said, adding that the first case on Coronavirus involving a Gambian lady returning from United Kingdom is still under treatment and quite stable, and the second case involving a Bangladeshi diabetic man who died en-route to the hospital and test done posthumously showed he was positive.
He said the third case involving a Gambian in his 70s, who recently returned from France, was diagnosed on the 23rd march and is currently on admission and undergoing treatment.
He said: “one of the close contacts of the second case (the late Bangladeshi man) is under quarantine and his test in inconclusive and is being repeated, he added that the man is in his 40’s who came in the Gambia with the second case, and is among the ten close contacts tested on the 24th March and all others were negative except him.
