The authorities of the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) in the Bono East Region and the Ghana Health Service are finalising arrangements for the procurement of a $30,000 qPCR machine to enable the Centre to conduct tests for the coronavirus.

This followed a donation of the $30,000 by a former Kintampo Municipal Chief Executive under former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration to the KHRC to facilitate the procurement of the machine.

Awudulai Razak's patriotic gesture followed an appeal by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) for the upgrade of the KHRC to enable it to test and boost the national testing of suspected cases of the Covid-19.

Dr. Kwaku Poku Asante, the Director of the KHRC told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a short presentation ceremony at Kintampo that the Centre was liaising with the GHS to order and install the machine for it to begin testing within the next two months.

The KHRC, he explained had been useful in testing illnesses and vaccines, citing that the centre successfully tested vaccines during the outbreak of Meningitis in the country in 2015.
Dr. Asante thanked the donor, and appealed for more support, saying apart from the machine the centre would also require other logistics as well.

Mr. Kofi Amoakohene, the Bono East Regional Minister announced that the region had recorded its first confirmed case of the Covid-19, and advised the people to adhere to social distaining, wash their hands with soap frequently under running water and use hand sanitizers to protect themselves.

He said the Regional Coordinating Council and the GHS have scale up precautionary measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus, and urged the masses to also play their part to prevent community spread.

Dr. Adomako Boateng, the Bono East Regional Director of health emphasized that testing remained crucial in the fight against Covid-19, saying with KHRC as a testing centre, the challenges of delay in the release of results would be overcome.

He said stakeholder collaboration was also a key to defeating the deadly “unseen enemy virus”, and called for concerted efforts to stem the spread of the Covid-19.

Dr. Paul Frimpong, the Vice Chairman of the Ghana Medical Association in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions, expressed gratitude to the donor, and called on the well-to-do in society to emulate the patriotic gesture.

Mr. Michael Sarkodie, the Kintampo Municipal Chief Executive said the world was under siege with the human race seriously under threat, and called for collective approach to fight the spread of the virus in the country.