By Yusupha Jobe
The Ministry of Health has yesterday confirmed a 3rd positive case of coronavirus pandemic in Numuyel, Upper River Region (URR), the patient travelled from France on 17 March 2020 to The Gambia.
Modou Njai, Director of Health Promotion and Education at the Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed this at a press briefing held at the Kotu office. He stated that the third positive confirmed case of coronavirus in the country is a 71-year-old Gambian who has travelled from France to The Gambia on the 17 March 2020 at 1:31 hours via flight TFL 458 with 59 passengers on board.
He added that the Ministry of Health and partners are working closely to verify information regarding the travel history of the 71-year-old Gambian coronavirus patient right from the airport to his final community at Numuyel in Upper River Region.
He explained that as the virus symptoms on the patient began to manifest on the 20th March 2020 he reported himself at Basse district hospital on the 21st March, 2020 with abdominal pain and chest pain.
According to him, samples of the patient who initially refused to be tested were later collected on the 21st March, 2020 after the involvement of the police intervention unit (PIU), which was later sent to the Medical Research Council on the 22nd March, 2020 for testing and found positive on the 23rd March but currently under intensive medical care.
As a follow-up to his positive result the team from the Ministry traced people that he has contact with while Epidemiological investigation has revealed that the 19 close contacts of the second coronavirus case are also going to be quarantine including 6 health care workers.
The Governor of Upper River Region, Regional health directorate, Basse area council including the COVID-19 task force in the region has on the 24 March 2020 issued a press release informing everyone about the present of the pandemic in the region.
“It is with utter sadness we announced that coronavirus has invaded our region. A man from France who came to the Gambia on the 17th March 2020, reported to Numuyel health post and later evacuated by medical and security personnel for final testing,” the release confirmed.