Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says that testing and observation is the government’s focus in monitoring all identified persons in the active contact tracing process. 

According to the Ghana Health Service, 19 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed and persons who have been in contact with the cases are being traced.

Health workers on the frontline have been concerned that persons identified in the tracing are sent home after testing turns out negative. Instead, they suggest a place of accommodation should be arranged for persons identified in the contact tracing process so they can be monitored by medical staff.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Rhythms A to Z, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah explained that there are two ways of managing people on the contact tracing list.

“If you belong to the school of thought that says, you have to wait for 14 days before you see whether or not the person will manifest symptoms, then you would aspire to the view that they should be quarantined in a particular place to observe them.

"But if you belong to the school of thought that says, they should be tested, if they are tested and have not been exposed to the virus, and they don’t have a viral load in their system, then you don’t have anything to worry about; then, you would not necessarily support that first school of thought,” he said.

“We are not opting with the assumption currently that these people should all be quarantined in one particular place. It is the observation and the testing that is going on for these persons and so far we have not received any adverse reports on any of these persons identified in the contact tracing,” the minister added.