The Gambia’s health minister, Amadou Samateh has confirmed Sunday the death of a 70-year-old Bangladeshi national in the country as a result of coronavirus.
He’s the second patient to be diagnosed with the killer-virus in the country following the confirmation of a Gambian 28-year-old woman who arrived from the United Kingdom and confirmed positive last week.
In a statement read on the national broadcaster, GRTS, minister Samateh said: “Since the diagnosing of the first case, nine suspected cases have undergone testing and one person was tested positive. This is the second confirmed case in The Gambia.
“In this case, a 70-year-old Bangladesh man who came to the Gambia from Senegal on the 13th March 2020 as a preacher, he was resident at Markass center in Bundung where he was engaged in preaching and interacted with a number of people,” he said.
According to him, the patient before arriving in the country had visited six other countries where he was carrying out similar preaching. The minister said the patient was presented at diabetic unit of a health facility.
“He was later referred to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital [in Banjul] and he unfortunately passed away in the ambulance before arrival on the 20th March 2020. A sample was taken from him and the results were delivered today which confirmed the positive test,” he stated.
Samateh said the contact tracing is ongoing and urged everyone who interacted with the man to call the hotline 1025 for further advice.
“The foreign ministry is already informed and the message will be extended to other countries as well for contact tracing.”
He disclosed that there are 104 people who are currently on quarantine at various locations while seventeen had absconded from quarantine centres thereby posing a great risk to their families and general public.
“These individuals are instructed to go back to the quarantine sites immediately. Failure to do so will lead to the enforcement of the law which may include arresting them.”
Meanwhile, local media have reported the arrest of the national assembly member of Banjul South, Touma Njie for obstruction after she allegedly confronted the health and security workers at the quarantine hotel where her mother who recently arrived from abroad has been held.
