By Nelson Manneh
The Gambia has on Monday 11th January 2021 registered nineteen new cases of the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases ever confirmed in the country to three thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
The median age of the new cases is. Three of the new cases had their samples mandatorily collected at the airport upon arriving in the country without valid test results; one is epi-linked to recent cases.
Three of the newly confirmed cases were also tested for being sick with flu-like symptoms, the remaining thirteen (68%) sought to be tested on account of being intending travelers.
This is the 243nd national situation report since the confirmation of the first case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in The Gambia, on the 16th March 2020. The Gambia currently has seventy-two active cases.
Modou Njai the Director of Health Promotion and Education at the Ministry of Health said five hundred and seventy new laboratory test results were received from the Medical Research Council and the National Public Health Lab.
Of these, he said nineteen new samples tested positive, representing a 3.3% t positivity test rate.
He said five new tests returned undetermined.
“Sixty high-risk contacts [of recently confirmed cases] have been identified and their follow-up began in earnest,” he said.
Director Njai said one new COVID-19 patient got discharged
and one COVID-19 patient absconded from the Ndemban Clinic Treatment Center.
He said sixteen people were newly taken into hotel quarantine for coming into the country without valid negative COVID-19 PCR test certificates, but have since been discharged.
