The Bono Regional Health Directorate in collaboration with the Regional Coordinating Council has quarantined 78 COVID-19 suspects after the region recorded first confirmed case of the disease on Wednesday.

The case was detected at Sampa, a town along the Ghana – Cote d’Ivoire border in the Jaman North District.

Most of the suspects whose specimen, according to the Directorate has been taken to the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) are in self-quarantine, while the District Assembly has arranged a centre for few of them.

The patient is a-27-year-old Togolese man who illegally entered the country with nine others through an unapproved route at Sampa, the district capital, and he has since been quarantined.

He and the other nine foreigners, who have tested negative to the virus, were apprehended by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

They have since been handed over to the National Security operatives.

Addressing a news conference in Sunyani on Friday, Dr Kofi Issah, the Bono Regional Director of Health Services said the region recorded its first suspected case of COVID-19 on March 9 and had so far investigated 538 cases, taken 202 samples and received results of 128 samples.

The region is yet to receive results for the outstanding 74 samples, Dr Issah who spoke on behalf of Mrs Evelyn Ama Kumi-Richardson, the Bono Regional Minister indicated.

He explained the RCC and the GHS had stepped up surveillance in the 12 districts to enable them to gain a broader picture of the state of infection within the region and thereby respond appropriately.

“We have also increased behaviour change communication and continue to emphasise social distancing to prevent community spread”, he said and advised people in the region to adhere fully to the hygiene protocols and the wearing of nose masks.