The UHAS lab at the University of Health and Allied Sciences will from today, Monday, April 27, 2020 start testing samples of persons suspected to have been exposed to COVID-19.
This is in line with Ghana’s objectives of expanding its capacity for testing for the COVID-19.
A memo issued to district directors of health services in the Volta and Oti regions from the acting Director of Public Health at the Volta Region said: “This new addition will further strengthen the enhanced surveillance and contact tracing which is in full operation.”
The various COVID-19 response teams in the Volta and Oti regions have since been advised to ensure that they utilize the services of the laboratory to improve their ability to detect, isolate and manage all COVID-19 cases.
“All samples can be sent to the UHAS lab located at the main Sokode campus. All existing guidelines for sample packaging and transportation should strictly be applied,” the statement added.
With this development, samples taken from people suspected to have COVID-19 would not have to be sent to Accra to be tested at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
Testing the samples in Ho is expected to reduce the waiting time for the confirmation of cases.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa last week disclosed that the laboratory was awaiting approval from the National Public Health and Reference Lab and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).
The Minister in an interview said staff for the laboratory have already been trained and are ready to start testing.
“We have a very sophisticated laboratory at the University of Health and Allied Sciences. The staff have gone to Noguchi for training and we are set to start testing. Now you know that apart from cases in Noguchi, we have got two more centres on board but the next phase is to move the testing to the other regions so that they are not localized in Accra and Kumasi,” Dr. Letsa said.
Cases in Volta Region
According to the Ghana Health Service’s April 26, 2020 update, there are 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Volta Region and 17 in the Oti Region.
The first nine cases in the Volta Region were confirmed on 12th April, 2020.
Six of those nine cases were from foreigners who illegally entered Ghana.
The six were travellers from Nigeria “who had entered Ghana through unapproved routes along the Ghana-Togo border near Aflao,” the Volta Regional Coordinating Council said in a statement.
“They were apprehended and have been under mandatory quarantine for the past fourteen days,” the council noted in a statement.
The three other cases, which are Ghanaian nationals, include a 48-year-old man, a 22-year-old pregnant woman and a 32-year-old man.
