The Upper West region has recorded its first case of COVID-19 in Wa, Regional Minister, Hafiz Bin Salih announced at a press conference on Friday.

Mr Salih said the patient is a 42-year-old Ghanaian who returned to the country through Egypt after a visit to the United Kingdom and Spain.

“He returned to Ghana eight days ago through Egypt and travelled from Accra to Wa via public transport and has been confirmed to be COVID-19 positive.

“This is the first suspected case [in the Upper West Region] whose samples were taken for test and the result is that the patient has COVID-19,” the Minister said at the meeting attended by JoyNews' Rafiq Salam.

Prior to being tested, the Minister said the patient self-isolated.

He urged the public not to panic.

“This should not bring fear to us. I entreat all and sundry that the precautionary measures that have been prescribed to all of us must be adhered to. We need to continue to wash our hands regularly and where necessary, we should apply hand sanitizers.”

This brings Ghana’s total confirmed cases to 137.

On Thursday, the Ghana Health Service disclosed that persons who were quarantined after their arrival in Ghana from abroad, account for more than half of the country’s confirmed coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, one person has died from the disease.