ACCRA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- As many as 40 suspected COVID-19 cases have been tested in Ghana and the results are negative, minster for health Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said.

The minister said the country had strengthened its prevention measures in line with WHO recommendations for member states to prepare and prevent the further international spread of the outbreak.

He added that the West African country was not relying on a common-sense approach, but on expert advice in all the efforts to prevent the disease from entering Ghana.

The recent death of a Ghanaian returnee from Germany has aroused some speculation that the Ghanaian might be infected with COVID-19, but the case was later tested negative.

The director for public health Badu Sarkodie said that the death was not COVID-19-related, although the actual cause is yet to be established.