The Head of Virology at Noguchi Institute for Medical Research has defended the test figures announced by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo in his last address.

Professor William Kwabena Ampofo said, “it is not impossible to have tested 68,000 samples,” adding their laboratories have the latest equipment to carry out multiple tests.

“Actually, since he [President Nana Akufo-Addo] addressed us, we have actually tested close to 30, 000 samples using the same method. Each time we do 10, 000 samples, it is actually a multiplication of the simple initial number."

"Please don’t be surprised if you hear in the next couple of days that we tested  100,000 samples in Ghana,” the Virologist said.

Speaking at a press briefing Wednesday, he admitted that all tests being run are according to policy control steps as outlined by the manufacturers of the test kits.

Prof. Ampofo stated that the test kits are according to international standards which are verified by global health bodies.

“We have actually used four different PCR test kits in Ghana. Two of them were provided by the World Health Organisation, the African Centre for disease control and also the West African Health Organisation to ensure that the process we are doing are in line with applicable procedures,” he said

His comments follow some recent debates over the number of tests Ghana has carried out as compared to numbers of persons tested for Covid-19.

According to him, sputum, swabs from the nose, throat, and nasal lavage, where saltwater is passed through the nose are the types of samples collected for the testing process.

Akufo-Addo, on Sunday, April 19 lifted the restriction on movement that was implemented in parts of the country but maintained the ban on all public gatherings.

This move was followed by a lot of public backlash as some medical experts have described the move as premature.

However, other groups and individuals have lauded the decision to call of the partial lockdown in Accra, Tema and Greater Kumasi.