Ghana is shifting its focus from waiting for weeks to clear backlogs of Coronavirus samples tests to deal with symptomatic cases.
Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, made this known to the media on Tuesday, July 21, during the coronavirus press briefing in Accra.
According to him, the move is to avoid perpetuating further backlogs.
He said backlogs currently stand at 23,000.
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However, he noted that a test result that is released two weeks after the sample is taken has very little public health and clinical relevance.
He stated that until results come, suspected persons are managed. He said the symptomatic cases are those who come in sick.
He added that the government is going to prioritise contacts of those who test positive.
Also, he announced that health workers who are exposed to the virus are going to be given priority in the testing project.
Furthermore, he said Ghanaian returnees will be given priority in the testing process.
He said the country is isolating all positive cases, noting that the government was not taking chances and that people who are taken to the isolation centres are managed as though they are sick even before their test results come out.