Nine Ghanaian nurses who travelled to Barbados last week to provide health care services have tested positive for COVID-19.
They were part of the 95 health workers who travelled to the country as part of a two-year contract under a Human Resources Agreement between the two countries.
The Barbados nursing job initiative according to Accra-based news outlet Citinewsroom, resulted from Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo’s visit to the Caribbean Island for bilateral talks with the Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley.
According to the acting Chief Medical Officer of Barbados, Dr. Kenneth George, the nurses that test positive for the virus are asymptomatic.
“Nine of them are from Ghana, from among the nurses who arrived on Thursday. The other 86 tested negative.
It should be noted that all of the nurses went into a 14-day quarantine on arrival,” Dr. Kenneth George said in a statement.
He adds that “in addition, we are increasing monitoring and surveillance at the designated facilities. This was, and is always understood to be a necessary precaution.”
Out of the 12 new cases Barbados recorded after testing 248 person from high risk countries arriving in the country, nine were from Ghana.
The 95 health workers include 12 cardiac care nurses, 21 critical care nurses, eight emergency room nurses, six operating theatre nurses, three ophthalmic nurses, and 70 registered general nurses.
Source: Africafeeds.com