Duplicate tests not part of Ghana’s COVID-19 announced figures – Noguchi

The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research has clarified that the novel coronavirus test results made public are from unique cases.

A top official of Noguchi made the remark after some contentions and conflicting comments from some government officials on whether the data on testing made public included duplicate tests.

The Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, for instance publicly said the declared data on tests includes duplicate cases of testing.

The 120 persons who have recovered from the virus are known to have been tested at least three times in line with Ghana Health Service and WHO protocols.

But Noguchi’s Head of Virology, Professor William Ampofo, explained that: “those counts for the retests of people who are positive are in separate databases. It is not counted among those who we are screening for the first time.”

“When we provide the cumulative figures to the Ghana Health Service, it excludes those who have been retested… what Ghana Health Service is reporting is the number of individuals who are tested,” he said.

Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Dr. Ampofo also noted that every individual is assigned a case investigation form that outlines the testing process.

Results are not accepted without case investigation form and “each test result is based on the sample and the case investigation forms”.

Even if the retesting was added to the data made public, Prof. Ampofo noted that it would be insignificant.

“Even if you add them, for the close to 80,000 individuals who have been tested, that will just be 480 test results.”

Testing backlog

Noguchi currently has a backlog of 6,000 cases.

Prof. Ampofo said that his outfit had processed 76,921 samples of which 70,921 had been tested.

He expects they “will be able to clear this backlog by the end of this week.”

“Once we are able to sort out the backlog, then they will be able to calculate the rate of infection, they will be able to present data on incidence and we will all understand how the spread has actually taken place.”

According to the Noguchi Head of Virology, the centre currently has “over 150 people working three shifts 24/7.”

The other major testing outpost in Ghana, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), has a backlog of about 10,000, according to Prof. Ampofo.

It has one lab with a “staff strength of about 15 to 20” and has tested 15,280 samples out of 25,219 samples processed.

Barcode to be introduced

To improve efficiency in the processing of samples, the Ghana Health Service is set to introduce a barcode system.

“We wish we had done this from the beginning,” Prof. Ampofo admitted during the briefing.

“Each sample will have a barcode with a geographical location of where the sample is collected, the sample will arrive in the lab, the barcode will be read, and then the results will be transmitted electronically from the lab back to the central database,” he explained.

Currently, Ghana’s novel coronavirus cases have increased to 1,154.

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