The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa, has disclosed that a laboratory for testing samples of the coronavirus has been established in the University of Health and Allied Science, Ho, waiting to start operations next week.

The laboratory is awaiting approval from the National Public Health and Reference Lab and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).

When the laboratory in UHAS begins operations, it is expected to ease the pressure on Noguchi and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, which are the only two laboratories in the country that have been involved in testing COVID19 samples so far.

Dr. Archibald Letsa, in a interview, said that staff for the laboratory have already been trained and are ready to start testing. “We have a very sophisticated laboratory at the University of Health and Allied Sciences. The staff have gone to Noguchi for training and we are set to start testing. Now you know that apart from cases in Noguchi, we have got two more centres on board but the next phase is to move the testing to the other regions so that they are not localized in Accra and Kumasi,” Dr. Letsa said.

The Volta Region is among the 10 regions in the country to have confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

According to the Ghana Health Service, the Region has nine confirmed cases.

Six of the nine novel coronavirus cases recorded in the Volta Region were from foreigners who illegally entered Ghana at least two weeks ago, according to local authorities.

The other regions that have recorded cases are the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Northern, Volta, Upper West, Upper East, North East, Western, and Central Regions.