Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo has suspended all official foreign trips for public officials, following a coronavirus (Covid-19) scare, the local press reported on Wednesday.
The Daily Graphic reported that the Ghanaian leader had issued the directive, as part of measures to prevent the possibility of an outbreak in the country.
Ghana has no known case of the coronavirus which has reached at least ten countries in Africa, including Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia, Senegal and Egypt.
A number of fatalities have been confirmed.
A circular issued by Ghana’s Chief of Staff, Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, and addressed to all government appointees said that “only essential and critical foreign travels will be considered and thereafter approved”.
The directive is aimed at protecting Ghanaian public officials from being exposed to possible risks, it said.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has described as satisfactory, his country’s preparedness to prevent Covid-19 from reaching Ghana after neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire confirmed its first case on Wednesday.
Ghana has recorded some suspected cases over the last few weeks, but none has tested positive for the virus which was first reported in China’s Wuhan province last December with over 4000 deaths from the outbreak worldwide so far.
DAP/GIK/as/APA