Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Baffour Adjei Bawuah has revealed that 33 Ghanaians have died from the fast-spreading Coronavirus.
In an interview with Accra-based GHOne, Mr Adjei Bawuah noted that the deaths were recorded in the New York state alone as the figures of infection continue to rise in the country.
“Quite a number of Ghanaians have been affected and indeed we have 33 people who have been verified to have died from the disease in New York alone,” he stated.
He intimated that several other Ghanaians, who have been stranded in the wake of the COVID-19, numbering about 300 have also contacted the embassy in order to be repatriated to their home country.
Key among such persons are government officials who travelled to the US on assignment before President Akufo-Addo ordered for the indefinite closure of Ghana’s borders.
“At the moment, about 300 people [Ghanaians] have expressed a situation where they believe that they are stranded and therefore want to come back home and…we are liaising with the US government particularly in connection with some [Ghanaian] students and some officials who came here and are stranded.”
“The students, in particular, are now living with host families and that has put a bit of pressure on these families but we are reasonably certain that by the end of this week, we would have been able to relay to the US government enough [information] for those people to be brought home,” Mr Adjei Bawuah added.
Meanwhile, some over 200 Ghanaians who were deported from Kuwait arrived in Accra on Friday after the Kuwaiti government funded their transportation according to reports.
They were taken through arrival procedures by officials of the Ghana Immigration Service and screened by health personnel. Officials say they would undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine at designated hotels under heavy security.
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah revealed news of their coming at a brief press conference in Accra, Friday.
He noted that the government of Kuwait made the request which the Ghanaian government accepted.
“The government was satisfied with the diplomatic corporation by the government of Kuwait, ” he said.
Ghana’s Coronavirus cases have risen to 6964 with 2097 recoveries.