Western Region: COVID-19 cases rise by 62.3 percent in a week

It appears the fight against the novel coronavirus in the Western Region of Ghana, is getting out of hands. Cases of infections have risen exponentially over the past weeks causing an emergency meeting by the Regional Minister with the Chief Executives of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

The regions case count as at today stands at seven hundred and seventy-eight (778), representing a 62.3 percentage rise in what was reported a week ago (Thursday 4 June, 2020).

The most worrying situation with this pandemic in the region is that fact that test results of samples taken from suspected infected persons and contacts have been met with unusual delays. The most recent report form the Regional Health Directorate indicates that a total of 4788 samples are pending testing at the various laboratories including the Takoradi COVID-19 test facility at the Veterinary Service Department.

Certain resolutions were taken, some of which as prioritized by the Regional Coordinating Council, is to have each district prepare an isolation center to contain and manage infected person.

Boosting Testing Capacity of the Takoradi Lab

The Takoradi COVID-19 test laboratory, will in the shorted possible time, be equipped with an additional capacity to run tests on about six hundred samples of suspected cases of COVID-19, as well as contacts of infected persons, per day. This news was received with some relief, particularly at a time when over 4,800 samples are pending for COVID-19 testing.

Western Regional Minister, Dr. Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah who hinted of the installation of a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine over the week, to shore up the testing capacity of the laboratory.

He continued that some GENEXPERT machines are being mobilized from across the region to be retrofitted to run COVID-19 test.

“We have some machines at the Public Health Lab at Effian Nkwanta, Tarkwa, and Amenfi West, which we will also want to calibrate so they can do some of the testing because of the numbers that are coming. So I beleive that if we are able to do the machine this week, we will be able to quickly as possible, clear the backlog” he told the press.