The Gambia has confirmed the fourth case of coronavirus (COVID-19) Sunday involving an undisclosed Gambian who returned from France a fortnight ago.
The Minister of Health, Amadou Samateh made the confirmation in Banjul during a press conference.
“Out of the 23 samples, one of the tests came out as positive. Another came out as inconclusive and the remaining 21 samples are negative. This means that the Gambia now has cumulatively four confirmed cases and one probable case,” he told journalists.
He stated that all the cases so far registered in the country are imported cases as there’s no evidence of local transmission.
“The recently fourth confirmed case is a Gambian gentleman in his 50s who arrived in the country from France by Royal Air Maroc flight number 8579 on the 15th of March 2020.
“In the same flight as the first case even though they originally departed from different countries. His issue was reported to the Rapid Response Team through the national COVID-19 hotline 1025 being operated by the ministry of health,” the minister added.
Following the collection of his sample, Samateh said the positive test result came out on the night of 28th of March 2020 confirming the patient’s infection.
“Sixteen of his closed contacts have been placed under quarantine. Plans are underway to have their samples collected for the COVID-19 testing.”
On the issue of the probable case, the minister informed that the test will be re-conducted in a few days to determine his health.
Among the four cases registered in the country, only one patient, a 70-year-old Bangladeshi man succumbed to death.
