As part of measures to enhance Ghana’s COVID-19 Response, Zipline is set to take charge of the transportation of samples taken from COVID-19 contact tracing to the various centres for coronavirus testing.
In preparation for this initiative, a number of test flights have been conducted.
The test flights saw samples transported to the various testing centers across the country.
What is left now is for the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority to approve the routes to be used, and the all clear from the Ministry of Health in order for the project to kickstart.
“Successful test flights have been done in Kumasi to KCCR on Thursday with a few more being done to Noguchi yesterday. We are awaiting the final go-ahead to receive the COVID-19 samples from our bases in Omenako in the Eastern Region and Mampong in the Ashanti Region for onward delivery to Noguchi and KCCR in the coming hours,” an official of Zipline has said.
This exercise, when fully implemented will enhance Ghana’s COVID-19 fight as blood samples taken for testing can be transported in a faster pace to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.
According to sources, Zipline has for the time being has dedicated six medical drones for the exercise which will be tweaked as and when it becomes necessary to ensure the smooth running of the project.
As to whether the new assignment will not affect the initial purpose for which the company was set up, the source replied in the negative, saying “we are ready for any project we sign on to and we will deliver to the best of our ability.”
Source: abcnewsgh.com
