Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has commissioned a 240-capacity Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test Centre at the Cape Coast Metro Hospital.
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The US$120,000 state-of-the-art facility will augment efforts in providing effective, accurate and timely testing regime for COVID-19 samples in the Region.
The facility, which could process a sample within 55 minutes, also takes 16 samples at a time with 240 capacity per day.
Speaking to the media after the commissioning, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the facility came with RNA automated extraction kits and a laptop for the processing of data and results for quick communication.
He said the facility would significantly ease delays and challenges associated with COVID-19 testing as samples were sometimes sent to Accra, Kumasi or Takoradi.
“The facility will go a long way to address the delays that occur in the Region as far as testing is concerned. We know that there is one in Takoradi but it’s not enough to support the Central Region,” Dr Kuma-Aboagye noted.
On the ongoing vaccination exercise, he described it as a success and a giant step towards reducing the infection rate and its consequences.
He said while the nation awaited the second phase of vaccination, it was paramount that every Ghanaian adhered to the coronavirus prevention protocols.
The GHS, he indicated, had segmented the COVID-19 vaccination exercise and expressed its resolve to vaccinate more than 20 million people, excluding children and pregnant women.
He described the misconceptions about the vaccine as unfortunate and assured that the available vaccines had proven to be effective adding that Ghana needed to break the Covid-19 transmission chain through vaccination.
The facility was handed over to the Cape Coast Metro Director of the hospital.
GNA
