Gambia Registers its first COVID-19 Death

By Bakary Ceesay

Dr. Amadou Lamin Samateh, Gambia's minister of Health has revealed that 70-year-old Bangladeshi man on preaching mission in The Gambia has died after contracting coronavirus.

Reports abounded earlier on Sunday that a man had died after contracting the deadly bug, making him the country’s second coronavirus case.

The health minister said late Sunday: “Since the diagnosis of the first case, nine suspected cases have undergone testing and one has tested positive today. This is the second confirm case in The Gambia.

“This case, a 70-year-old Bangladeshi man who came to The Gambia from Senegal on the 13th March 2020 as a preacher. He was resident at the Markass Centre in Bundung where he engaged in preaching and interacted with a number of people.

“He was in six other countries where he was carrying out similar preaching. He was a known diabetic who presented at a health facility… He was later referred to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital and he unfortunately passed away in the ambulance before arrival on the 20th March 2020.

“A sample was taken from him and the results were delivered today and we confirmed the positive test.”