The President has announced the establishment of a fund to receive contributions and donations to assist those who will be greatly affected by the new coronavirus disease.

COVID-19 Fund, as it is called, will be chaired by former Chief Justice Sophia Akufo, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced in a national broadcast Friday night.

The President also pledged his salary for the next three months – April, May and June – as his contribution to the fund which will be managed by an independent board of trustees.

He commended churches, organisations and individuals who have so far contributed towards the fund.

“I’m confident that we can defeat this virus if we all commit ourselves to the measures that have been outlined,” he said, while urging the public to donate towards it.

Here are the latest updates from the Ghana Health Service about the coronavirus situation in the country:

• As at the evening of March 27, 2020, 59 COVID-19 cases including four deaths have been confirmed from the regular surveillance systems.

• All four deaths had underlying chronic medical conditions. Two have recovered and have been discharged.
• The remaining 53 cases are doing well: 14 are being managed at home. The rest are on admission and responding well to treatment. Greater proportion of those on treatment with mild symptoms and are awaiting repeat of their laboratory tests to inform a decision to discharge them.
• Majority of the confirmed cases are Ghanaians, who returned home from other affected countries. Seven are of other nationals namely: Norway, Lebanon, China, Netherlands, and United Kingdom. Seventy-eight (78) among the travellers (1,030 in number), who were mandatory quarantined and tested, have tested positive for COVID-19.
• Regarding contact tracing, a total of 1,006 contacts have been identified and are being tracked. Out of these, 204 have completed the 14 days mandatory follow up.