The Gambia health minister, Dr. Amadou Samateh

The Gambia has confirmed its first death related to COVID-19. It was a Bangladeshi Islamic preacher, who died in an ambulance as he was being rushed to hospital at the weekend.

The country’s health minister Amadou Samateh said 70-year-old Bangladeshi tested positive for COVID-19 after he passed away.

The Bangladeshi, he said, had visited at least six other countries, before coming to The Gambia.

Samateh said the Bangladeshi arrived The Gambia from Senegal on March 13 and interacted with a number of people.


He said The Gambian foreign ministry would inform the other countries about the case, so they can begin tracing the patient’s contacts.

It was the first death and second confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country, with the first case being reported on March 17