The Ghana Chamber of Mines on Thursday, made a donation of GHS11.5 million to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and its allied institutions, to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of the total amount given, GHS 3.3 million was to be used for the purchase of 20 ventilators and its accessories by the MOH, for distribution to hospitals across the country, while GHS 5 million would be shared among the key testing centres, to test 25,000 COVID-19 cases.

Out of the five million for the testing centres, GHS 2 million each was to be given to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative research in Tropical Medicine, to test a total of 20,000 COVID-19 cases.

One million Cedis was also to be given to the National Public Health Reference Laboratory of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, to support testing for 5,000 COVID-19 cases.

Mr Eric Asubonteng, the President of the Chamber of Mines, explained that the remaining GHS 3.2 million was used to procure 7,000 complete sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) made up of 7,000 boxes of hand gloves, 7,000 pieces each of Coverall, goggles, surgical face masks, N-95 respirators, and also one thousand Thermometers.

An affiliate member of the Chamber Rikair Company Limited also donated three oxygen concentrators to the MOH.

Mr Asubonteng said the donation was in response to the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that increased testing, when done quickly and effectively, was a key step in isolating and containing the infection, and said it was the expectation of the Chamber that the donation would ease the pressure on the government and free up much-needed resources for other essential aspects of the national strategy for COVID-19.

He, however, stated that like all other sectors, the mining sector has also been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and urged individuals and businesses to collaborate with government to ensure that the nation returned to normalcy as soon as possible, to protect the value chain of both the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

Ms Tina Mensah, the Deputy Minister of Health, thanked the Chamber for the donation, which she said would greatly facilitate the work of the beneficiary institutions, and protect frontline healthcare workers from getting infected and spreading the virus to others.