Gambia Records One COVID-19 Death, 23 New Cases

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By Nelson Manneh

The Gambia has on Monday 18th January 2021 registered one COVID 19 related death, bringing the total number of deaths to 128.

The decedent was a 68-year-old woman, who until her demise, was hospitalized at a COVID-19 Treatment Center since January 16th. She had multiple comorbid conditions.

On the same day, the country registered twenty-three new cases of the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases ever confirmed in the country to three thousand nine hundred and thirty-three.

The median age of the new cases is 38.5.

Four of the newly confirmed cases were sought to be tested by virtue of being sick with flu-like symptoms, the other 19 are intending travellers who needed COVID-19 test certificates.

This is the 249th 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 ninety-six people under hotel quarantine, one hundred and six active cases.

Modou Njai the Director of Health Promotion and Education at the Ministry of Health said six hundred and forty-three new laboratory test results were received from the National Public Health Lab.

Of these, he said twenty-three new samples tested positive, representing a 3.6% test positivity rate.

He said four new tests returned undetermined.

“Twenty-seven high-risk contacts of recently confirmed cases have been identified and their follow-up began in earnest,” he said.

Njai said five new COVID-19 patients got discharged from the treatment centers. No one was taken into hotel quarantine.