The Gambia has confirmed its first coronavirus case, a young woman who arrived in the country on a flight from the United Kingdom last Sunday.
In a briefing on Tuesday evening, Health minister Dr. Ahmadou Samateh said the woman, a Gambian in her early 20s had gone into self-quarantine at her home shortly after being taken ill following her return to the country.
She was taken to the British-run Medical Research Council where she was tested positive for the coronavirus, making it Gambia’s first official case of the disease which had ravaged much of the world, causing over 6000 deaths since December last year.
Dr Samateh said she is in a stable condition.
He said since the confirmation of the virus in Gambia, his ministry has set to work contact-tracing those who were on the same flight with her last Sunday.
Earlier on Tuesday two other suspected cases tested negative for the virus at the MRC.
News of a confirmed COVID-19 case came hours after President Adama Barrow ordered that all schools including the country’s main university be shut down for 21 days starting on Wednesday as fears over the coronavirus heighten.
Barrow said all public gatherings including religious and other group engagements such as an international trade fair slated for next month have been postponed in the wake of the global pandemic.
“The government is not complacent. There are surveillance teams at all major entry points into the country, whether by air or land,” the president said in his eagerly anticipated national address.
The Ministry of Health last week announced a massive sensitisation scheme via mainstream and social media on the application of prescribed preventive measures.
Meanwhile, the country’s land borders remain open to travellers crossing in and out of Senegal which has already recorded some thirty confirmed cases of the respiratory illness which was first noticed in China last December.
WN/as/APA