The Ghana Health Service has 1,982 COVID-19 samples to clear as backlog from the 130,000 tests done so far, Prof William Ampofo, Head of the Virology Department of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) at the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana, revealed to journalists on Tuesday, 5 May 2020 at a press briefing.

“I just checked with Prof Richard Philips of KCCR and he has 1,982 samples awaiting testing; it was 3,500 yesterday [Monday], so, they worked all night.

“He expects that by Thursday, the backlog will be done”, Prof Ampofo noted.

With Noguchi, he said: “We have no backlog. We have zero samples, so, as the minister said, we should be able to provide results within 24 hours back to the GHS when samples are received from contact-tracing and also from hospital surveillance”, he said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang-Manu has warned Ghanaians that the coronavirus pandemic will linger for a “very long time”.

He has, therefore, urged Ghanaians to stick to the measures outlined by the WHO and local health authorities which include the washing of hands regularly under running water with soap, the use of hand alcohol-based hand sanitisers, the wearing of facemasks and staying home if need be.

“The virus will be with us for a very long time,” the minister said at the same press briefing, adding: “We need to observe the protective measures”.

So far, Ghana has recorded 2,719, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said in its latest update on Monday, 4 May 2020. 

A total of 294 have recovered with 18 deaths.

Regional breakdown

Greater Accra Region – 2,332, Ashanti Region – 124, Eastern Region – 94, Central Region – 38, Volta Region – 30, Oti Region – 23, Western Region – 21, Upper West Region – 19, Upper East Region – 19, Northern Region – 13, Western North Region – 4, North-East Region – 2, Savannah Region – 0, Bono Region – 0, Ahafo Region – 0, Bono East Region – 0.