The African Union Commission (AU) is appealing to its member states not to repatriate other African nationals who may test positive for coronavirus while in their jurisdictions different from their home countries.
Rather, the Commission wants such persons to be treated just like any other patient of the disease in the countries they tested positive.
According to the Director for the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) at the AU, Dr John Nkengasong, it would be out of place to repatriate such persons.
His comments followed the Government of Ghana’s indications to repatriate 10 ECOWAS nationals who tested positive for COVID-19 after being arrested and placed into mandatory quarantine in Tamale, in the Northern Region recently.
The Minister for Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, had on Sunday, March 29, 2020 given an indication that the ten would not be treated in Ghana, a decision many have described would rather put the lives of many others at risk of contracting the virus should they be repatriated.
Addressing journalists across the continent via video conference, he maintained that member states need to intensify their ability to test and detect patients, isolate them and find their contact to be monitored as containment strategies.
Giving an update of the pandemic in Africa, he said as of 9 am East African Time on April 2, 2020, Africa recorded an increased number of 6,213 cases in 49 countries, with 221 deaths and 469 recoveries.
The AU, he said, has presently deployed an online platform in delivering training on laboratory diagnostics, surveillance, and infection prevention and control for member states due to travel restriction.
Similarly, the Africa CDC, he said is providing support to countries through the distribution of test kits and other logistics to assist in the care and treatment of patients.
Dr Nkengasong also pointed out that, with countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal recording increased positive cases, member states ought to quickly adopt the use of mobile laboratories to undertake door-to-door testing of people in areas affected by the infection.
Source: Fiilafmonline/Graphic
